Enter the Reaper
by Kiki-chan78
Summary: Draco Malfoy is dead! He's been submitted to a program to increase ties between different countries departments of the dead. So what if Britain only wanted to get rid of him? He gets to be Japan's problem Yanagisen. Finished!
1. Prologue

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Oh, and just in case... this only applies to this chapter:

"-spoken Japanese-"

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing at any time in this fanfiction.

Enter the Reaper.

Heavy boots echoed as Korin stepped into the room. Adjusting his gloves the pyro looked at the two Reapers. In his opinion, in all the different countries that he's been sent to... British Gods of the Dead were pretty low on the totem pole. Large amber eyes blinked, "-I am here to transport,-" Korin looked through his papers again for the name, "-Malfoy Draco-san?-"

The blond, who appeared not more than 17, looked over Korin with icy silver eyes. He glanced away again, his face oddly impassive. It was the other Reaper, an older gentleman who approached the shinigami. "-Ah yes, welcome to the British Office. I am Matthew Longbottom, this..." He gestured toward the blond. "-is Mr. Malfoy.-"

The shinigami bowed respectfully to Longbottom, "Itami Korin, it is a pleasure." He said switching to english... and sounding oddly enough more American than anything else.

"The pleasure is ours. I believe you have the necessary paperwork with you?"

"Hai... yes, I do." Korin looked at the other teen, "Malfoy-san are you prepared?"

The blond nodded, but didn't speak. Longbottom took the papers and looked over them, signing in several places and retaining a few of the copies. "We've done the translator spell, so he shouldn't have a problem with speaking or understanding your language. Is there anything else you need?"

"There is nothing else necessary." Turning towards Draco, Korin pulled out a small object that looked like an elaborate rubber stamp. "Malfoy-san, this is your Inkan. This will be your official signature on all documents from now on. Is that clear?"

"Yes." The blond took the small stamp. He turned it over in his hands, then it disappeared into the folds of the floor length black robe he wore.

Once more the blonde bowed to Draco, "I am Itami, you do not have to remember my name, this will probably be the only time we meet."

"Well met, Itami." He turned to the other Reaper, a look of distaste crossing his face. "Is there anything else?"

The man shook his head. "No."

Malfoy nodded and turned back to the shinigami. "Shall we leave then."

"Yes. You have everything?" The pyro extended a gloved hand towards the Reaper.

"Everything of importance..." He stepped closer.

Taking Draco's hand, the two are transported to Japan. "Welcome to Meifu, any questions will be directed to the one who will be your partner for the time being."

The young man's eyes stayed shut for a couple moments as he obviously steadied himself. He nodded and took a deep breath. "I thank you for your assistance."

Sakura petals swirled around the pair as amber eyes gave the young wizard a chilly look, "My job is not finished until you are delivered to the Secretary."

"Very well then." The Reaper's eyes were equally frosty though his face did not reflect any emotion at all.

Going up the stairs they were passed by an older brunette with violet eyes. Calling up after the man, Korin informs him that he should turn left and not right. The information is acknowledged with a quick nod and the brunette disappears to the left into the building. The pale blonde's sharp eyes dart back and forth, obviously noting things and filing them away for later thought. His floor-length robes drew stares, but he seemed to ignore them.

After passing several hallways, they finally go through what looks like an office filled with desks and a strange machine that is making even stranger noises as a girl with long hair stands next to it apparently waiting for it to do something. Moving to the other end of the room, the two come to a closed door and Korin gives a set of precise raps on the glass. "-Tatsumi-san, we are here.-"

"-Enter.-"

Opening the door, Korin showed Draco in, "Welcome to Hell."


	2. Adjustment Troubles

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing at any time in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter one.

A boy with mismatched green eyes and long blue hair pulled back into a low loose pony tail came trotting up to them. "Hey, that's the new guy. Is Korin still around? I have to kick his ass for a little stunt he pulled last time he was here." A mock high kick was thrown to emphasize the point.

One slender blond eyebrow arched delicately, but the newcomer made no comment. Tatsumi frowned. "No, he has left I believe."

The newcomer gave a playful growl. "Damnit, now I can't get even with him for screwing around in my love-life... I can't believe that he told my lover that he was going to torch his business if he ever came near me again." Turning his attention to the new blond, green eyes brightened and a hand is extended. "I'm Ishida Nanjiro, but everyone calls me Nan."

Silver eyes darted to the hand... then the young man extended his, hesitantly. "Draco Malfoy." When the young wizard took the blue haired boy's hand, he felt something push gently against his mind.

"Wow, nice shields. Psy?"

He dropped Nanjiro's hand. "I do not understand."

Nanjiro laughed, "You know... mentalists. I'm straight telepathy."

The blond frowned slightly. "Like Occlumency?"

Now it was the shinigami's turn to frown, "Occu-what?"

"It does not translate." The blond unnecessarily straightened his long robes.

"Oh well... at least it's good that you have shields, you won't be giving anyone any headaches" Shrugging, the blue haired teen started to jog off, "I'm being called... talk to you later!"

The blond watched him leave, then turned to Tatsumi expectantly. Tatsumi shook his head, "Ishida-san is one of the more colorful individuals employed here," he commented as they continued on their way.

"I see that." The older shinigami led them through another set of hallways and up a flight of stairs. The young Reaper's eyes continued to look all about him. However he didn't ask any questions or make any comments. Finally they stopped at a door. As soon as it was opened, an owl about the size of Weasley's poor excuse of an owl came shooting out slightly ahead of a cloud of smoke.

Draco had stopped dead in his tracks as the Secretary had extended an arm to halt him. He rocked back on his heels when the smoke came pouring out. He coughed lightly, sniffing carefully. If it was a potion gone awry he didn't recognize the smell...

"003? 003? Where are you?" A voice called out from amidst the smoke. The small owl winged back down the hallway. At least it seemed to be more sedate than the Weasel's. Finally a person that Draco initially mistook for a female came out coughing. "Tatsumi?"

"Blowing up the lab again?"

"If you weren't so cheap with my budget then I would be able to get the materials I require and of the quality necessary... Oh never mind."

Hmm... he'd heard Snape make the same complaints about his supplies. Perhaps this... man was a potions master?

Pulling out a handkerchief, the older blonde started to wipe the dark smudges from his face and clean his glasses. "So to what do I owe the visit?"

The man glanced meaningfully at Draco. "Your new partner."

"Wasn't he supposed to arrive on Wednesday?"

"Have you looked at a calendar?"

The long haired blonde crossed his arms and gave an indignant huff, "When I finished with my cases this morning."

The man adjusted his glasses. "Indeed... well in any case, here he is. I expect you will help him get settled in and acclimated. The British Office worked some kind of translation spell so your limited English won't be strained."

"Fine..." The older blonde commented, trying not to sound too irritated over having lost a complete day somewhere between his caseload and experiments.

The man bowed slightly to Draco then left him standing there looking at the long-haired blond who didn't seem happy to meet him. No one seemed to be happy to see him, Japan was proving to be no different from England.

"It's not you, chibi." The blonde sighed. "I just don't like it when I lose track of time like that."

"I see." Snape was like that too, irritable when interrupted.

"I'm Watari Yutaka." He smiled warmly, "and you must be Malfoy-kun?"

"Draco Malfoy." He bowed slightly.

"Come in," Watari welcomed the young blond into the lab, "technically we have desks with everyone else, but I like to do all my work in here. Though it's a little cluttered at the moment."

Draco coughed slightly and waved a slender hand in front of his face to disapate the smoke. "Indeed."

One of the windows was opened and the man tugged on a pull string which caused a low whirring noise to start and the smoke dissipated within a few moments. "Sorry about that. If I had realized that it was already Wednesday I would have made sure that the place was at least presentable."

Draco just shrugged. He really didn't know what to say. He looked around the lab, trying not to appear too intrusive.

"We get to take care of the sixth block... which is relatively quiet, so you don't need to worry about anything trying to dismember you just yet." Watari said with a chuckle.

"Dismember... do you mean that in the literal sense?"

"Unfortunately I do. But don't worry; things like that normally don't happen in Kyoto."

"I see. May I ask some questions?"

"Certainly." Nodding, the shinigami motioned the teen towards a stool that he just finished cleaning off.

Draco looked at the stool, an expression is distaste momentarily crossing his face. He sat however and looked around the room again. "Potions is a particular favorite of mine. What do you specialize in?"

Looking a little confused, the older blonde pushed his glasses back in place, "potions?"

"Is the translation spell not working correctly? Potions... combinations of magically potent ingredients to create a compound imbued with a certain power."

"Sorry, nothing magical with what I do. Chemistry, mechanics and programming are some the areas that I deal with."

Draco sniffed dismissively. "Muggle subjects I'm sure. You mentioned the sixth block. I've heard of Kyoto, but what is it that you are supposed to do?"

"Well, basically we look after this area," a map of Japan is pulled down and the shinigami traced around a section on it. "Cases are sent to us on a basis of priority. Anything that comes in from the Department of Light needs to be taken care of immediately, and most anything else is dealt with as it comes in. Mainly what happens is that we get to deal with what the local authorities are not qualified to handle... which for the most part means anything that is supernatural in nature."

"I see..." It was fairly clear from the tone of his voice that he didn't.

"What part did I not explain properly?" Watari asked in a slightly apologetic voice.

"Cases of what? Magical occurrences?"

It looked as though the older blonde was turning over several thoughts in his mind before speaking again. "I do not know what the role you are intended to play within the British system, but here the main duty of a shinigami, a god of death, is to ensure that the souls of the deceased reach their destination."

"Ah... so souls do not come by themselves?"

"Normally, they arrive on their own."

"But not always?"

Watari shook his head, "sometimes there is interference and they cannot arrive."

"And that is where you step in?"

"That is correct." The blonde leaned against the wall next to the map and scratched the top of the owl's head that had returned and perched on his shoulder.

"You have owl post here as well?"

"Iie, we inter office memos, or email, though we also use something similar to Chijou's mail system, but that one isn't as common." Chuckling, the owl was set on a perch as he started to clean up the table and put several beakers where they were supposed to go.

He had no clue what that... email thing was, but didn't figure it would matter much to him. "And where do you live?"

"About thirty to forty minutes walking distance from here... I already checked, the apartment that has been acquired for you is on my way here. So, if you want, I can stop by to make sure that we arrive on time in the mornings." Another set of beakers were picked up, these were filled with brightly colored liquids.

"Thirty minutes of walking? Do you not have a floo system?"

The scientist casually studied the label on a bottle he picked up. "Floo?"

"Yes, magical transportation system using the fireplace..." He looked around the lab. "You don't even have a fireplace?"

Watari put the bottle on a shelf, "This is probably going to come as a shock to you, but magic isn't really used here."

"WHAT!" Reflexively he grabbed his nearly useless wand hidden in an inner pocket of his robes. No magic?

"You kept mentioning things that were magically enabled. I just thought that you would like to know that at least here in Meifu we don't rely on such things." Looking at his watch, the shinigami tsked. "It's almost time for us to leave."

"To leave?" No magic? What kind of barbarians were these people?

"Hai. When was the last time you ate?"

"Breakfast... back in Wizarding London."

"Okay, we can see about getting something to eat at a restaurant that a friend loves to go to."

"Very well." He was hungry. Very hungry actually, it had taken all afternoon to fill out the paperwork, not to mention his hours were totally thrown off given that he was now on the other side of the planet.

Watari changed out of the white coat he was wearing and picked up a rather dull looking dark brown one. "Tsuzuki should be leaving about now as well... we can ask him to join us."

The blond stood, brushing off his robes. "Suzuki?"

"T-suzuki. He's one of the shinigami that looks after block two, and as much as he might deny it, Tsuzuki is one of the strongest individuals here."

"Ah." It was difficult to hear the difference in pronunciation; he would have to pay closer attention.

The spectacled blond led the younger one out of the building. "Tsu is also the second oldest shinigami employed within our department."

"Does he also do that... chemisty?"

Watari chuckled, "no... I'm the only one here that deals with chemistry seriously. Tsuzuki is a summoner, and is quite proficient with fuda magic."

"Ah... a wizard." His voice sounded relieved.

"I don't think I understand the word 'wizard'..."

"Wizard... male user of magic..."

"Oh, so what would the name of a female magic user be?" The shinigami scratched the top of his owl's head.

"She would be a witch of course."

"Of course... and we are here." Stopping in front of one of the buildings, the blonde motioned to a cheerfully lit entrance... looking nothing like any sort of place that Draco had ever set foot in.

"What is this?"

Watari opened the door for the teen. "A restaurant."

"Ah." He stepped inside, glancing around. Draco didn't know how it happened, but it didn't take long to find himself seated at a table with Watari... and a newly introduced Tsuzuki. He listened to the two friends as they talked, trying to puzzle out the menu that had been given to him. Draco discovered that the translation spell had no effect on his inability to read Japanese, only speak it. He sighed softly, reminding himself to act like the pureblood he was. He folded the menu and placed it on the table.

It didn't take long for the two shinigami to offer suggestions on what they thought were good choices from the menu.

"I will go with your recommendation for a meal. The cuisine here is new to me."

* * *

The water was lukewarm at best, Draco thought to himself as he tried to bathe the next morning. How did they expect him to maintain himself if he was forced into such an existence? He scowled at his wand. It had been next to useless since his death. He'd heard someone say wands were attuned to the user's lifeforce... once one died they never worked right. He had thought maybe that he might have been able to get a new wand, but no one had suggested it. He bathed quickly and scowled again at his reflection. His hair was fast becoming a disaster without being able to properly wash it.

He dressed in his last set of clean clothes and donned his robes. At least they were holding up well. Where were the damn house elves? He needed his clothes cleaned and meals prepared. A knock at his door drew his attention.

Frowning, he stuck his wand in its pocket and irritably pushed his hair into some semblance of decency. He stalked to the door and opened it. "Yes?"

Watari handed over what looked like a rolled egg omelet, "Morning."

"Morning." He grumbled. "What's this?"

"It's a quick little pick-me-up... you can get some coffee at the office."

"Thank you..." He mumbled. "I guess the house elves aren't present." He pulled the door shut behind him and started to eat the omelet.

"House whats?"

Inconceivable that he doesn't know about house elves... obviously a muggle, there was no other explanation. His opinion of his 'partner' was sinking fast. "Do we really have to walk everyday?"

"It's a short walk... and it's a nice way to get acquainted with the day."

"I suppose." He finished the omelet, deciding that it wasn't too bad.

* * *

Over the course of the next couple of days, Draco's opinion of his partner fell even further than before. The man wasn't even a mudblood... but a full muggle. He didn't use a bit of magic at all and seemed obsessed with blowing things up. The man was pathetic and Draco was insulted that he had to deal with a commoner. His mood darkened, not helped by his still lukewarm baths and the fact that not a single house elf was assigned to him. He was getting short tempered and snappy.

The muggle in question broke him from his 'reverie'... "Malfoy-kun, come on, we have a case... some new age occultist is trying to summon something that they shouldn't."

"Dabblers..." Draco snorted. Why did muggles have to meddle in things they didn't understand? And his 'partner' was supposed to know how to deal with this?

"Should be simple to handle... just stay put. You are coming along only to observe."

"I see..." Sure... he would handle it. Stupid muggles.

The older blonde grabbed Draco's shoulder and they apparated to a completely different location. He couldn't understand how this muggle could apparate... must be some power they got as shinigami. Had to compensate for his inability to do anything useful. "Where are we?" He snapped.

"Kyoto..."

"Hm." He looked around. "Where is this... thing we're supposed to take care of?"

"Inside that building." Watari pointed at a rundown looking two story building that was grey from so many years of neglect.

Draco gave the building a look of disgust. "We have to go in there!"

"Yes, we have to go in there... "

"Eeh?" He shook his head.

The shinigami shook his head, "stay out here then... I'll go take care of this."

"No... I'll go in." He lifted his robes, hoping to keep them from getting as dirty.

Watari patted Draco on the head as he passed him, "Please remember to stay out of the way... I don't want anything to happen to you by accident."

The blond irritably checked his hair. Anything to happen to him? Who was the one with magic here? Granted, it wasn't as powerful as before but still! Inside the dilapidated building, Watari stopped to look at some writing on the wall. In the distance they could hear low chanting.

Draco couldn't quite make out the words. He drifted in the direction of the voices, trying to discern what spell they might be casting. The young blonde ignored the shinigami completely when he heard him say softly but sternly that he shouldn't wander off on his own. His father had been practicing dark arts in their home his entire life, he knew what to look for. This untrained muggle wouldn't know a spell if it jumped up and bit him. Which it probably would. He could make out the voice more clearly now... just a little closer. He noticed a strange piece of paper on the wall, with some kind of design on it.

The young wizard never saw what hit him... screaming, he finally passed out from the pain inflicted by his attacker.

* * *

A/N: 

Anonymous: Sorry... Hisoka isn't making an appearance just yet.

Lolol: Actually, only the prologue had anything to do with England. Everything else takes place in Japan... So, it falls into the Yami no Matsuei listing. I wouldn't dream of replacing Hisoka with Draco, Tsuzuki would murder me.

Kara Angitia: -continues knitting slytherin scarf- hmmm... I guess that we are a couple of Slytherin girls... and thanks, it's always fun to find believable ways to put series together and have others enjoy your insanity in the process.

Rocker-Baby-176: Wow, thanks dearie. Yannie and I always like to know that our work is appreciated.

ThisbeCeyx: Uhm, I think that Tsuzuki would be rather upset if we tried to steal Hisoka away from him and pair him with Draco...

Ola: Where is this going? Oh, probably about wherever Yannie and my imagination drags them... hmm, let's just hope that poor little Dray-chan survives this chapter.


	3. Oops, I did it again

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter two.

Slowly wretched consciousness came back to Draco. He moaned. Had he been injured playing Quidditch again? He seemed to ache everywhere. He forced his eyes to open, expecting to see the ceiling of the Hogwarts infirmary or worse, Madame Pomfrey herself. Instead he was treated to a rather annoyed looking muggle... Watari.

"What in Enma's name were you thinking back there! Did you want to die... or worse, become possessed by that thing?" The small owl on the man's shoulder nearly fell off as arms were roughly crossed in front of the white coat.

"wha..." He blinked, trying to gather his thoughts. Oh yes... the filthy place and the chanting... he must have triggered something.

"That thing nearly tore your arm off... is that what you were trying to do? Become useless to anyone here?" Watari sighed, "or did you just instantaneously become deaf and not hear me when I specifically told you not to wander?"

He looked down at his arms, trying to figure out which one had gotten injured. "Me, useless!" He snapped. "You're the muggle!"

"I don't know and don't care what a 'muggle' is... but if you had listened to me, then you would not have been unconscious for nearly two days!" The shinigmi came close enough to the bed that he could stare Draco down. "And trust me... If I hadn't been there, you would NOT have ever woken back up."

"What are you talking about? What happened?" He quailed a bit at the expression on the blonde's face. He pulled up some more Malfoy attitude, he wouldn't be spoken to like this.

"Simple, YOU wandered into the circle, past the sealing talisman... breaking the demon's confinement and were attacked by a hungry critter." The blonde glared at the teen. "Was that UNDERSTANDABLE to you? Or do I have to make a diagram for you?"

"Sealing talisman? I didn't see any talismans! There was no circle. You wouldn't even know what a magic circle was!" He threw the sheets and blanket from him scowling at the simple cotton pajamas he was wearing. "Where is my robe!"

"You are NOT in BRITAIN ANYMORE... The circle was laid out by candles, and you walked RIGHT past the talisman!" Hazel eyes came down and looked straight into Draco's. "How long were you even at your post before you were sent here?"

"What do you mean?" He looked around for his wand, starting to get very worried when he didn't see it right away. "How long was I at what post?"

"How long have you been dead?" The older blonde's tone sounded slightly dangerous.

Draco's expression was icy. "Not that it is any of YOUR business but I died two months ago. Where is my wand! And I demand some proper clothing!"

"You meant two years, right?" Watari sounded slightly confused.

"I said two months! Is your hearing as deficient as your magic? I want my robes and wand and I want them NOW!" Anger pushed him to his feet and he ignored the fact that he was a good inch or so shorter than the other blond.

"Because of your lack of maturity, I will overlook your impetuous and childish actions." A bundle was brought out from a large metal cabinet and set down on the nearest bed, "those are your things... I will be in the lab."

Draco glared at the man as he left. How dare him... He irritably pulled the bundle to him. "no... no." He dug through the shredded robe. His wand was intact but the robe... his Slytherin robe... one of the few things he had left to him. It wasn't even fit to be rags. Some fifteen minutes later, time Draco spent trying to figure out what he was supposed to even be doing anymore, someone came into the room while whistling a happy tune. On the bed that the blonde was sitting on, a backpack was dropped next to the wizard.

"The only thing that Watari keeps stocked in here are those damn pajamas... and blankets," a slightly familiar voice said.

Still a little stunned, he didn't snap at the young man the way he might have normally. His fingers still twisted in the rags he looked at the bag numbly. "What is it?"

"Clothes you can borrow," Nanjiro opened the pack, and pulled out a set of jeans and a t-shirt... muggle clothes in Draco's opinion. "These should fit you."

"Muggle clothing..." He muttered. Looking at the shredded robe, he grabbed the still intact patch. Wincing internally, he tore it from the rags, dumping them to the floor. He grabbed the clothes, patch and his wand and looked for a place to change. The blue haired teen pointed over at a door to the side of the room. He mumbled something in thanks and darted across the room. Safely out of sight he finally let down his guard slightly. A Malfoy didn't cry, but he felt like it. His robes were gone...

* * *

In the lab, the shinigami started a search for any relevant information on Malfoy Draco. There had to be a reason that the child was sent to them... the boy didn't even seem to have been properly trained by his own department. There was a surprising amount of information for the Malfoy family, very little of it good. Most seemed to pertain to a man named Lucius, judging by the picture, the man had to be Draco's father. 

Another hour of searching and a lot of hacking into other department encrypted files revealed just about all of Draco's history... now if only he could read English. He did notice that in nearly every picture, the boy was dressed in that silly black robe. He was apparently fairly attached to the garment. It was a shame the demon had shredded it trying to get to the blonde's flesh, the cloth had probably saved the boy's life. He'd have to see if he could talk Saya and Yuma into trying to salvage it... if not, make a new one for the child. 'Seamster Watari' he was not.

Draco seemed to also have an almost unhealthy attachment to that wand of his. Apparently British magicians relied on those pieces of wood to focus their magical powers.

* * *

Mismatched green eyes watched as Draco emerged from the small bathroom. "Want to talk about it?" 

"Talk about what?" He picked at the sleeves. He supposed the clothing wasn't... too bad.

"No, the clothing isn't too bad... though the shirt might be a little big on you."

He frowned, putting his wand into one of the back pockets.

"So what happened?" Nanjiro pulled his hair into a low ponytail.

Draco tried to finger comb his hair into place. "That muggle took us into some dump, there was some kind of binding circle with a demon in it."

"You jumped the gun and got attacked?" The teen looked confused for a moment, "didn't Watari warn you? First time I went out to a lesser demon banishing was with Watari... and he told me to stay back and out of trouble."

"I could hear the chanting... I was trying to see if I could understand it."

Nanjiro shook his head, "There's only one person around here that understands demon, and that's because she's been studying it for at least forty years..."

Draco didn't comment, stalking across to the window and staring outside. He was carrying his house patch in his hand, running his fingers over the embroidery.

"Dray... you have to listen to him. When it comes to his block, Watari knows what he's doing." Teleporting across the room, Nanjiro looked out at the sakura as he settled next to the wizard.

"My name is Draco..." His voice sounded tired.

* * *

Watari looked up from where he was filling out his forms. It seemed that from the time Draco had woken up from his attack, that the only things to emerge from the boy's mouth were complaints. He had complained about the omelet the entire walk to work, but ate the entire thing. Now he was complaining about the coffee. "This is barely fit for a Hufflepuff. Am I really expected to drink this swill?" 

"No one is forcing you to drink it." Another page is started, he had decided that he didn't even want to know what a Hufflepuff was... even if it did sound like an interesting dessert.

The boy made a disgusted sound. "I have to drink SOMETHING after that walk. Ridiculous, having to walk like a common peasant." He was pacing, walking between the windows and one of the lab tables.

"Keep away from the sink... I didn't get to finish cleaning up there before Tatsumi dropped these files on me." The blonde warned without even looking up.

"You don't even have house elves to clean? Savages... how am I supposed to live without house elves?"

"We do not have any of those house elfs that you keep referring to."

"Elves... 'v' sound... and an 'l'... you can't even pronounce it right." He took another sip of the coffee, grimaced and headed for the sink to throw it out.

The older blonde got up from his seat, if he didn't get that sink cleaned out, Draco was going to keep trying to throw his coffee in there... and he already knew that the sugar he saw the boy put in there would react quite badly if combined with the other chemicals still on the ceramic.

The young man was already in the act of pouring his coffee into the sink.

He could only grab the teen away from the sink as the entire thing essentially exploded, throwing the two of them across the room and into the shelves where Watari kept his so-called failed experiments. The blonde could feel glass cutting across his back. Nothing was burning, which was a good sign, and he didn't smell anything too odd, but he did like that nice peppermint scent from the experiment that had switched everyone's bodies... No time for that, there are other more important things to be dealt with, namely Draco. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU!"

The blond was sitting up groggily, holding the back of his head. Suddenly a look of horror crossed his face. "MY WAND! Where is my wand!" He shifted to his hands and knees in the class and broken shelves, trying to dig through the mess.

Watari growled and dragged himself and the boy up out of the mess. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION."

"What the hell are you talking about! I NEED my wand!" He pushed the older blond away from him. "Get your hands OFF me!"

"And let you stick your hand into a mess of spilled chemicals and broken glass?"

"You don't understand you stupid muggle!" He was so worked up, there were unshed tears in his silver eyes. "I have to have my wand!"

Watari grabbed a nearby broom and started poking through the shattered glass and oozing liquid till the wand was uncovered. Reflexively, Draco started to grab for the wand...

"DO NOT TOUCH IT!"

He jumped back, slipping on some glass and falling. "OUCH!"

A set of tongs were picked up and the blonde causally picked up the wand. "The main components of the compounds that were in the beakers next to the wand, when mixed will cause a nasty chemical burn... and eat through flesh on contact."

Draco scrambles away from the glass and mess, picking up several small cuts in the process. "What about my wand!"

"If the chemicals were going to damage it, then it would have been damaged already," Watari said coldly as he immersed the 'stick' into a tall flask before stepping into the emergency chemical shower.

"It's very delicate... the components are exceedingly rare..." He hovered, showing more emotion over a piece of wood than he had over anything else in the entire time he'd been in Meifu.

"Good for it." Pulling the lever, the blonde turned on the water and let it soak him completely. "You can take your little toy out of the flask now." The boy grabbed for the wand, drying it off on the hem of the shirt he wore. Shivering the blonde stepped out of the shower and stripped the sopping wet lab coat off. "Did you think I was joking when I said not to throw the coffee in the sink?"

"I wasn't really listening..." He muttered.

"You seem to do that a lot with me..."

"Do you think this is easy for me!" Silver eyes flashed angrily.

"Me, me, me... With you, it's always about 'Me'..."

"How DARE you talk to me like that!"

"Very easily."

"I'm not going to stay here and listen to this!" He stomped towards the door.

"Do everyone here a favor and do not come back until you have stopped complaining about everything."

"FINE!" He slammed the door behind him.

For the first time in days... it was actually quiet in Watari's lab.

* * *

Pushing his sleeves up, Watari stormed into Tatsumi's office. The explosion from his lab was large enough that the secretary must have felt it. "Before you even start lecturing me on blowing up my lab again, you should consider hanging those pompous asses from the British department by their misbegotten and arrogant toes," the blonde growled. 

"What are you talking about?" The secretary scowled.

"Malfoy... has only been deceased for two months."

The man looked at him in disbelief. "You're kidding me?"

On Watari's shoulder 003 started to preen. "On matters like this, I do not joke. The child is untrained and for the moment completely unmanageable. He doesn't listen to others, and is a danger to himself and those around him while on a case because he chooses to follow whatever notion is stuck in his foolhardy head."

Tatsumi started to dig through the papers on his desk. "I don't remember them saying anything like that in his file... come to think of it, they said very little."

"They probably said less than you bother to ever disclose on Itami-san..." The scientist sniffed.

"Do you feel he is a danger to Meifu?"

"If I felt that he were a danger to Meifu, then we would be able to send the spoiled brat back to England in a very small box."

"Let me rephrase then... shall we ship him back to the British Office anyway?"

"Only if he blows up my lab again." The scientist didn't look all that happy at the concept of someone other than himself causing such damage to his workspace.

Tatsumi sighed. "Where is he?"

"I told him to go away until he can stop complaining about everything."

"He was uninjured? And you?"

Watari crossed his arms, "Both of us are fine, I kept him from taking the main impact of the explosion..."

"Good. I'm sorry you've been stuck with this. Do you want me to find someone else to partner him?"

Sighing, he shook his head, "the only other person available to partner him with is Sei-chan, and she would have murdered him by this point. Worse comes to worse I'll keep him in line with pure threats until he can behave."

"Alright. Take the rest of the afternoon and get the lab cleaned up. We can bill the British Office if need be."

"There is need. I can already tell you that the sink is gone as well as a good section of the counter top and one of the stools."

"Add it up... they are lucky they didn't lose a Reaper. I'll make a note for Malfoy's file."

"Hai." With a nod the blonde left.

* * *

It had irked Watari to no end whatsoever when he realized that because of one of the experiments which had fallen on him, he was now a teenager. A fact that had greatly amused several of his co-workers. Since the lab still wasn't back in order, he couldn't even try to mix up an antidote for his condition. At least he hadn't had to go shopping for new clothes... Wakaba, Saya and Yuma all acquired clothing for him. He had a sneaking suspicion that the leather pants were more of a joke than anything else, but he wasn't going to complain, he'd been saved a trip to the mall and all he's had to do in return was promise a few scarves, hats and blankets. 

Looking up at the calendar, the now teenage scientist realized that he hadn't heard a peep from his missing partner since he sent him away on Monday... and now it was Thursday? Time definitely flew past. There was a sharp knock on the door.

The blonde put down the case he was working on and looked up. "Hai?"

The door opened, Tatsumi looked in. "Is he back yet?"

003 flew over and landed on the secretary's shoulder. "I haven't heard nor seen anything of Malfoy since Monday morning... I'm hoping that this peace holds out for at least another week." The blonde joked.

The secretary glared. "Four days... this is intolerable. I want you to go get him."

Hazel eyes looked up at Tatsumi, mentally Watari cursed that he was now several inches shorter than the shadow-master, "There are only a couple more hours for today... I'll check on him on my way home tonight."

"Now, this is unreasonable. If he won't come back then we will have to take steps."

Watari nodded... he wasn't about to lose a partner like this. He always lost his partners because they requested a transfer, not the other way around, and there was no way that he would allow this to happen.

"If you have trouble, let me know."

* * *

All the food that had been in this cold apartment had been burnt to a crisp and refused to come out of the pot. Sitting on the floor, wand clutched to his chest, Draco pulled the blanket tighter around himself. His precious Slytherin patch was clutched in his left hand as his right moved the wand in the proper motions. He was practicing charms, for lack of anything better. But even first year charms were difficult now. Why did this place have to be so cold? He was so hungry... He barely heard the knock at the door.

* * *

AN: 

Yaoi-Hunter: hope that this chapter was all that you were expecting. No tsusuki/hisoka yet... and Draco, well... he's kind of having a few problems right now.

Jiko Hitasura: information on Draco's death has yet to be released... as for why he's here, well, that was part of an employee exchange program to promote awareness between different countries and the policies about how death is dealt with. (sadly, as in Draco's case, it's just a way that the departments can saddle other places with unwanted employees...)

Anonymous: Sorry, no plans to follow that sort of action. Tsuzuki and Hisoka have gone through enough problems to reach where their relationship is now... and Yanagi-sen and I feel that it would be improper to bother the poor dears.

Kara Angitia: After finishing up with the editing on this chapter, I read your review and nearly died laughing. I would say that the 'good behavior' kind of flew out the proverbial window. Oh, and... I am pleased to find another good Slytherin, since Slytherin is the ONLY house that matters. Just because a few bad wizards came from there, doesn't mean the entire house is bad. –pats slytherin book bag-

Rocker-Baby176: Oooh, who did you think the attacker was going to be? Luscious Lucius? Malevolent Muraki? Kooky Kyoko? Now you have ME curious.

Shadow Oni Shinobi: Okay, more has been written.


	4. Miracles of Modern Science

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter three.

All the food that had been in this cold apartment had been burnt to a crisp and refused to come out of the pot. Sitting on the floor, wand clutched to his chest, Draco pulled the blanket tighter around himself. His precious Slytherin patch was clutched in his left hand as his right moved the wand in the proper motions. He was practicing charms, for lack of anything better. But even first year charms were difficult now. Why did this place have to be so cold? He was so hungry... He barely heard the knock at the door.

Silver eyes, that were tired and empty, lifted to look at the door. He couldn't summon up the energy to go open it though. He tried the charm again... the first they had learned. The cup barely lifted from the floor. There was another knock, this time more insistent... followed by someone calling his name. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Nobody wanted him anyway. He pulled the blanket tighter around him, and shivered.

Outside, Watari glared at the door, he knew that Malfoy had to be in there... he'd asked the nice woman that lived across the street if she'd seen the boy go out, and she hadn't. Besides, where else did the child have to go? Sighing, the blonde teleported inside and nearly tripped over what he thought might be a saucepan. "Malfoy-san?" he said almost whispering.

The boy didn't look up. He waved that wand of his and pointed it toward a cup sitting on the floor in front of him. "Wingardium Leviosa." The cup lifted shakily a couple inches, then fell to the floor again. Draco sighed, then shivered.

He looked around the apartment and shivered. No lights were turned on and he could almost swear that it was colder inside than out. "Draco?"

"Huh?" The sound came from the pile of blankets on the floor.

Quickly the blonde went to where Draco was huddled under his blankets on the floor of the almost empty room. "Chibi, are you alright?"

Dazed silver eyes looked at him from a paler-than-normal face. "Cold..."

Watari crouched down to look at the boy in the eye, and ran a hand through that limp dirty hair. "When was the last time you ate?"

His eyes fell to the wand he gripped so tightly. "Don't know... can't make food..."

"Come on, we're going back to my apartment," gently, the shinigami put his hands on the wizard and teleported them outside of his home. Even sitting, Draco swayed from the aftereffects of the teleportation. Pulling a key ring from his pocket, Watari unlocked his door. Carefully he picked up the teen that now seemed as fragile as crystal and carried him inside, "It's going to be alright," he whispered. He could feel the boy's shivers. He could also unfortunately smell the fact that Draco obviously hadn't showered effectively for a while. The boy clutched the blanket around him. Turning on lights as he went, the shinigami headed up to the bathroom where he could get the boy cleaned up.

Draco made a disgruntled sound. "Cold... the water's cold..."

He settled the shivering blonde on the floor near him as he turned on the water and let it warm up. The shower attachment was held facing away from them and held a little closer to Draco, "Just feel the water... it isn't cold."

The wand was transferred to his other hand, which was also holding a scrap of embroidered fabric. His free hand reached out to the water. "It's warm?"

"Hei, it's warm." Watari took the blanket from around the boy's shoulders, folded it up and set it on a small shelf. "First thing we are going to do is get you cleaned up, alright?"

"Okay..." His clothes were wrinkled and showing signs of not having been washed for a while.

Carefully, the long haired blonde started to take the teen's clothes off and place them neatly folded on top of the blanket. Draco moved when prodded but was largely very docile. He almost reverently held out the scrap of fabric and his wand to the other blond. Nodding, he took those and set them with the rest of the boy's things. Reseating Draco on the small stool and commenced washing the boy... as he lathered the teen, he handed the shower head to him to hold.

"How do you get warm water? Mine is all cold..."

"By turning the knob for warm water."

"Oh..." The boy moved the water head over himself, rinsing the soap when Watari moved on.

Picking up the shampoo, he worked it into Draco's hair. Silver eyes drifted closed as the boy relaxed into the sensations. Massaging the minty shampoo in, Watari smiled knowing how good it felt to have someone else wash your hair. In fact... the boy might be in serious danger of falling asleep. Cautiously he rinsed the soap from Draco's hair and vigorously worked the conditioner in. The blond moaned softly, but whether it was from contentment or displeasure at not being allowed to sleep, Watari couldn't tell. Once he was finished and had gotten the conditioner out, he guided the teen to the bathtub. "Just soak there for a while and relax..."

"S'ok..." The boy slipped into the water. He leaned his head back on the edge, out of danger of slipping under.

Slipping out of the room, Watari threw a towel, robe and pajamas into the dryer so that they would be nice and warm for Draco when the teen got out of the bath. Wandering into the extra room, the shinigami went about preparing it to be used that night.

* * *

Only when the water started to feel cool, did the boy drag himself from it. He looked around for a towel... and realized that his things weren't sitting on the shelf anymore. A feeling of panic overtook him. "Wand... where is my wand... and my badge...?" He stumbled out of the bathroom, ignoring the fact that he was completely naked.

Almost immediately a warm towel was wrapped around him, shielding him from the slight chill in the air.

"Your things are safe." A calming voice said.

He couldn't really identify the voice, but he did recognize the tone. The tension started to leave his body and he pulled the warm towel around him. Gently he was pulled back into the washroom and toweled off. Pajamas were put on him along with a robe... both were warm and smelled sweet and clean, almost as though they had been charmed into being that way. It wasn't until his currently unidentified benefactor started to brush and do who knows what to his hair that Draco finally fell fast asleep.

* * *

Awareness came very slowly. He was warm, comfortably warm; and wrapped in sheets and blankets that smelled clean. He rolled over, pulling the blanket up over his shoulder. There was another scent he could detect... it reminded him of the library at Hogwarts... or Malfoy Manor. That particularly dusty smell that he associated with old books, Silver eyes parted slowly. Across from the bed he was on there was a large bookcase filled with books, and a scroll or two.

Where was he? Curiosity finally overcame lethargy and Draco pushed the blankets away. He sat up and yawned.

The room he was in wasn't all that large, but he could see at least three more bookcases in there with him. Draco frowned, where was he? He shifted, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. He found slippers waiting for him and slid his feet in. He spied a robe laying over the end of the bed and pulled that on as well. On the other side of the door he now heard cheerful whistling coming nearer. Since they were coming to him, he simply stayed where he was.

The door was nudged open and a teenage blonde with waist long hair stepped in carrying a tray with what looked like might be food on it.

"Oh good, you're awake." The blonde said with a smile that lit up his entire face.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"Watari Yutaka, and you are in my home." The tray was set in Draco's lap, "and I didn't know how sensitive your stomach is since you apparently haven't been eating well, so I made rice porridge... while not the tastiest food it is highly nutritious."

"Watari?" His stomach growled audibly.

"One of the flasks on that shelf we slammed into as a result of the explosion you caused from NOT listening to me had an experiment that once turned me into a toddler... I'm lucky that since it was only a limited amount that went into my bloodstream through the cuts on my back, I only reverted to being a teenager." Slender fingers ran through that long silky hair, "Now eat."

He was going to protest, but his stomach made itself known again. Unable to deny his body food after trying to live on his own cooking, Draco dug into the porridge.

Watari watched as the teen wolfed down the food. "You know that you are an arrogant pain in the posterior?" He asked with absolutely no malice in his voice.

He paused for a moment... "I've been told that."

"You're also a kid that doesn't know any better." The shinigami sat down on the edge of the bed. "Which is the only reason that I haven't requested to have you transferred out of my block and into a desk job."

"Why not? No one else wanted me around." He chased the last spoonful around the bottom of the bowl.

Hazel eyes were clear and steady as the Japanese looked into silver irises, "You are not in Britain anymore. Whatever reasons they might have had to not want you is for them to worry about, not us."

"Do you know who my father is?"

Watari shrugged, "I only know a name, and that knowledge is about as relevant as who my family is... or who Tatsumi's family were... or any other shinigami for that matter."

"You... you don't care?"

"Malfoy Ruscious... I've read that he is powerful, and? Here that name is unknown."

Draco couldn't help it and started to laugh. His father would die to hear someone mangle his name so.

The shinigami smiled, this was perhaps the first time that he had heard the boy laugh since he arrived in Japan. "Malfoy-kun, you are in Meifu now. No one is looking at you and remembering what your family might have done before. Who you were before, doesn't matter. What defines you now are your actions... nothing more."

He sombered almost instantly. "What actions? I am useless."

A slender finger was held up and waved back and forth. "There is a difference between ignorance and uselessness."

"But I am useless... I can't even live by myself."

A mischievous smile spread across the spectacled teen's face, "So why do you say that you are useless?"

"Oh please... what have I done since I got here? I'm no more wanted here than I was in England."

"England sent you away. Japan hasn't. Now answer my question... why do you insist that you are useless?"

He clenched his fists. "My magic doesn't work anymore, ok! I can't do anything anymore! I'm totally USELESS!"

"Your magic doesn't define who you are or what you can do. Right now you are using your magic as a crutch." Watari winked, "As for it not working the way it is supposed to... that is sheer ignorance, not uselessness."

The boy looked horrified. "Magic is my life... a pureblood without magic is... is... worse than a squib, worse even than a mudblood!"

Watari slid off the bed and picked up the tray, "Magic is an inherent talent that you have, and something that you study. Therefore, it is not something that you can lose."

"It's there..." He whispered. "I can feel it... Its just beyond my reach..."

The shinigami started out of the room, "You are like a young piano player crying that he cannot make beautiful music because a key has fallen out of tune."

The blond didn't respond, just stared at the floor.

A few minutes later Watari returned carrying a white box. "For the time being, learn to live without magic... others have done so and survived for thousands of years."

"How? I can't heat water to bath and I'm not good enough to transfigure things into food even if I could use my magic."

The Japanese almost hit the floor laughing. "Gomen... I hadn't realized that your dependency on magic reached that extent," Watari apologized for his outburst, "You do not need magic to do those things here..."

"Don't need magic? But... how does one get hot water, or clean without charms?" He seemed genuinely lost.

The young scientist put the box on the bed and sat back down, "Simple, turn on the water heater and then twist the knob for hot water... and for cleaning, you get to do that manually."

"Twist the knob? But I did that... only cold. And what is a water heater?"

"Well, what is used in my apartment is a flash heater... which is a little device that is attached to the pipe the water travels through. The heater makes the pipe hot, which in turn makes the water hot."

"But how does the heater make it hot? Is it permanently charmed?"

"No magic is used." The blonde smiled, "The heat is all based on chemical reactions and electricity... "

"Electricity... what's that?"

"Electricity is a fundamental entity of nature consisting of negative and positive kinds, observable in the attractions and repulsions of bodies electrified by friction and in natural phenomena, such as lightning or the aurora borealis, and usually utilized in the form of electric currents." He explained. Draco's expression remained blank. "For the moment all you need to know is that it works." The box was handed over to the wizard, "and this is for you."

The blond looked at it. "What is it?"

"You seemed very attached to that black cloak... So I took the remnants of it to some friends of mine to see what they could do."

Draco looked surprised, then hopeful. Putting the box on the bed beside him, he practically tore into it. Sitting folded in the box was a black robe. While the material wasn't exactly like his Slytherin robe, the cut and style matched perfectly. The only thing missing from this new one was the patch that was sitting next to his wand on the window sill. The boy darted to the window and grabbed the patch. He lay it where it would have been sewn. "My robes..."

"Want me to attach the patch for you?"

Silver eyes looked up pleadingly. "Please..."

A small sewing kit was pulled from a pocket and the patch was fixed into place with a set of pins. Lifting the material up, the blonde tied his hair back, pulled a needle with black thread and began to stitch the house crest onto the material. Draco crept closer, watching intently. Tying the final knot, Watari snipped the thread and handed the robes over to the boy. "It's not the same... but it is close enough."

He pulled the robes to his chest, hugging them. "I thought they had been lost forever..."

The box was nudged towards Draco once more, "There's still one thing left in there."

The boy looked in the box again. Cocking his head, he reached in and pulled out... a scarf. Not only a scarf, a Slytherin house scarf. But he wasn't able to bring one with him.

"How..."

"I think that the only thing missing on this one is that crest," Watari halfway apologized.

He ran his hand over the knit. "It's so soft..."

"I'm glad that you like it... "

"Like it... I love it. They didn't allow me to keep mine. It's so much nicer than the one the school gave me."

Hazel eyes widened slightly, he had fully expected the scarf he had seen in the photo to be of a higher quality than the one he knitted for the boy. "So desu. Well, now that you are in such high spirits, I will now drag you back to your apartment and help you sort out what needs to be done there."

"Um..." Draco looked down at the pajamas he was still wearing.

"I'll be right back with the clothes you were wearing the other night."

"Okay." He was holding up the robes, checking the size.

When Watari returned, he had Draco's clothes... and the wizard would have sworn that they were charmed into giving off that powdery scent... not only that, they were still warm to the touch.

"They are warm..."

"They should be... and no, no magic was used to achieve that either." The shinigami chuckled as he left the room.

Draco got dressed quickly. He relished the feel of clean clothing against his skin. He pulled on the robe as well, tucking his useless wand into its inside pocket. He draped the scarf around his neck. He felt like a true Slytherin again.

* * *

Responses to Reviews:

Kara Angitia: Seeing that I am now sending the unedited chapters off to you, the fact that Draco isn't speaking very 'British' English should be remedied. .

Tosca: Nice to know that you are enjoying this... and poor little Dray-chan should be getting into better shape pretty soon.


	5. We are living in a material world

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter four.

At Draco's apartment, the teen stared in amazement when Watari flipped a switch and the room was completely illuminated. "How did you do that?"

The Japanese pointed at the switch, "Long explanation short, to turn on the light, flip the switch up... to turn it off, flip it down." The boy started to reach for the switch, and then stopped. He looked at Watari uncertainly. "Go ahead, worse that can happen is that the light will break, and we'll have to replace the bulb... then it will be as good as new." Watari thought for a few seconds, and then pointed up at the lit light bulb, "that thing twists out so that it can easily be replaced when it doesn't work anymore."

"Oh." Draco got a look of concentration, and flipped the switch. The light went out. He flipped it up again. The light turned on. "Amazing..."

"When my lab is back in working order again, I'll show you more in detail how and why that works... also, in all the rooms, there should be a switch like that, they all do essentially the same thing." Crouching over by a lamp sitting on an end table that looks like it's nearing its own end, the blonde called Draco over, "There's a different kind of switch on this... except that you don't flip it, you push it."

The boy walked over. "Push it?"

Watari nodded, "Hei, right here... "The shinigami clicked the light on and off a couple of times. "Why am I pointing this out? Because I want to show you that there is more than one kind of switch." Quickly he grabbed the British teen's hand and put it on the bulb, "Also needed to show you that the light will heat up... right now it's warm, but leave it on, and it will get too hot to touch. Next thing is the cord that plugs into the wall..."

"Plug?" Draco looked over everything curiously.

Following the cord, Watari uncovered the electrical outlet in the wall and pulled the light's plug out and held it up for the teen to see. "If this isn't plugged in, then that light won't turn on."

"Oh. But what about the ones in the ceiling?"

"They have something similar to this that is out of sight." Watari handed the plug over to the blonde. "Now push this back into those little holes, but make sure that you don't touch the metal as you do so."

"Okay..." He carefully replaced the plug.

"Only put things that have metal prongs similar to those into that kind of holes. Never touch the metal as you do so, because it will hurt you."

"Okay."

Nodding, the shinigami started looking through the house, every so often he would stop and explain how something would work... he even showed Draco the switch for the flash heater and let him know that he had to have the water running when he ran the garbage disposal... as well as that he should never stick his hand in there when that thing was running.

The teen was attentive and seemingly amazed by the simplest of things.

"Last night I almost killed myself all over again while tripping on a pot... would you please gather the dirty dishes and other cooking utensils and put them in the sink?" Watari requested as he was looking in a closet.

"Very well. But they don't look usable."

"That's why they are going into the sink." the blond winked at the confused teen.

Draco didn't understand, but he collected the scorched and dirty vessels. He stood near the sink, and frowned. "I can't cook."

"You can't cook, yet." The shinigami gently corrected. "And there are no cleaning supplies here... not to mention anything that could be considered to be food."

"Cleaning supplies?"

"Yes, things used to clean." Watari said as he sat at the table, pulled out a pencil and paper and started jotting down notes.

"Oh." He sat as well. "What are you doing?"

"Making a list of the things I believe that we will need to get when we go out shopping..."

"Shopping?" Draco's face lit up. "There are places to go shopping?"

"We may be dead, but we aren't dead."

"I haven't been shopping since my mother took me before the school year started."

"Ah, I'm sure that she was a lovely woman."

Draco looked away. "Yes... she is very lovely."

"And when one can get past your attitude, you are also not so bad," Watari got up and poked the teen in the side with a chuckle. "Come on... let's go, and before you even ask, yes, we are walking."

The blond sighed. "It would be so much easier if we could just take my broom."

"Broom?"

"Yes, broom. That you ride on."

Pocketing the list, Watari looked a little skeptical, "Very well..."

"You mean we can take my broom?"

"Hei," though the blonde still looked a little apprehensive about the concept of riding on a broom.

The teen grinned and dashed to the closet. He pulled out a broom as tall as himself, made of some dark wood, polished so it shown. "I'm an excellent flyer, so don't worry."

Watari read a small carving near the top of the handle, "Firebolt?"

"Yes, the best broom out there right now."

"Okay, so let's get on our way?"

Draco smiled. "Okay." Instead of sitting on the broom the way Draco did, Watari sat side-saddle and wrapped his arms around the other teen's waist to make sure that he didn't fall off. The broom lifted smoothly, hovering in the air. "I won't go too high... which direction?"

"Anoo... down three blocks and turn left."

"Alright... holding on?" Without waiting for a reply, Draco took off. Yelping, the shinigami held onto the wizard even tighter. The boy laughed but didn't slow down. They raced, just off the ground, along the street. "Turn coming up..." Pressing himself closer against the laughing teen, Watari braced for the turn. Draco took the corner sharply then drew up short. "Okay... you can open your eyes now... where to?"

The shinigami, still clutching at the wizard, glared at him... "Straight ahead until we reach the building with large letters on it..."

"Okay..." He took off again pulling up right before the building. "Here we go."

Scrambling off the broom, Watari looked relieved to be on firm ground again. "Thank you..."

"You're welcome. Much better than walking."

"Now that might have been enjoyable if you hadn't been attempting to scare me into a second death." Looking up at the building the blonde smiled, "Nafco... this is where we are going to start our shopping..."

"Nafco... I've never heard of them. What lines do they carry?"

"Lines?"

"Clothing lines."

"Nafco doesn't carry clothes."

"No clothes? But you said we were going shopping."

Watari gave Draco a curious look, "Shopping doesn't always imply the purchase of clothing..."

"It doesn't?"

Dragging the teen into the building, the blonde grabbed a basket and handed that over to Draco before taking one himself, "It doesn't. It is the acquisition of new property."

"Where can I put this?" He held his broom with one hand, the basket with the other.

"Normally people don't ride broomsticks around here... I suppose that the cashier could watch it for you?"

Draco thought about it for a moment. "Very well." He handed it to the woman who bowed politely and carefully stashed it behind the counter.

Only after the basket he was carrying got filled, did Watari start to put items into Draco's.

The young blond had a look of interested confusion on his face. A new broom, made of bright plastic is picked up, along with a dustpan.

"This can't be flyable at all..."

"It's not intended for flying." Watari chuckled.

"Then why even have it?"

Putting down the basket he was carrying, the blonde gave a few sweeps with the broom, "To clean with."

"Oh... okay."

Looking down at his watch, the shinigami realizes that it is getting later than he expected. "I think that we have everything that we need from here...:"

"Alright."

Heading to the checkout, the purchase is unloaded and rung up with Watari explaining the process to Draco.

"I... I have no money."

The blonde shinigami pulled out his wallet, "Pay me back later then..." he said with a mild sigh.

The boy's head dropped. "I'm sorry..."

"Show me you are sorry by not flying so fast when I'm on that broom."

"But it's fun... I miss Quidditch."

With the purchase paid for, a set of bags are handed over to Draco. "I'm sure that it's fun... but I'm barely used to the concept of flying on a broom."

"I went slowly... you should see how we play." He retrieved his broom and carried it outside shifting the bags to one hand. "I'll can go really slowly though, since we have to carry stuff back. Don't worry, as a Seeker I am accustomed to flying with one hand."

"Perhaps we don't have to actually hold all the bags ourselves..." Watari remarked while holding up one of his bags and looking through the handle at Draco.

The blond frowned. "I don't understand."

"Hook them onto the broom... "

Draco looked horrified. "T..to.. to the... the... broom! MY broom!"

Watari crossed his arms, "Would you rather carry the bags and have that affect your center of balance?"

"I... I can't treat a broom like that!"


	6. Tsuzuki wa BAKA

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.

!warning!

!warning!

!warning!

SEX WARNING! If you will get into trouble for reading this, STOP now... Normally I censor out any depictions of sex. Normally they aren't crucial to story development. This time it is. Report me to and I'll happily pull all my fics and leave... thank you.

On with the fic..

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter five.

After several moments of discussion, and grabbing Nanjiro as he jogged past, Draco, Watari and Nanjiro got all the purchases back to the neglected apartment. Draco carefully stood his broom behind the door. Really... to think about treating a broom that way... In his mind a voice, that sounded suspiciously like the blue haired teen, made a comment about different cultures... and that this is also the first time that the 'mad scientist' has ever considered a broom as a means of transportation. The blond looked toward Nanjiro, a questioning look on his face.

/Yes, I did just talk in your head... /

"How is that possible?"

Nanjiro grinned/told you... I'm a telepath./

"Oh... I see"

/Out of curiosity's sake... what's a Muggle/ Putting the bags he was carrying on the table, the green eyed teen tightened his ponytail.

"A muggle? A non-magical human."

Nanjiro laughed, halfway grateful that Watari was in the kitchen putting things away there, "Thanks! Everyone up on the fourth floor was dying of curiosity."

"The fourth floor?"

Watari wandered out from the kitchen, "Fourth floor... that is where most telepaths and empaths work. For the most part they do general research... and are the main source of gossip in Meifu."

"Oh." Draco was just standing in the chilly living room, looking somewhat lost.

"Don't worry... Watari will find something for you to do," Nanjiro said as he headed out, "And I have to go get ready for my date tonight... Ja!"

The blond watched him leave. He looked around for the other shinigami.

Draco was called into the kitchen, where the Japanese teen was standing at the sink with his sleeves rolled up and his hair pulled back into a neat braid.

"Remember what you said about these dishes?"

"Um... I said they don't look usable."

"Right." Turning on the water, the shinigami picked up the sponge and put some detergent on it, "Now to learn how they will be made useable again."

Draco drew closer. He watched as the blond scrubbed the plate. "So that's how muggles do it."

"Hei," The water was turned off, and the sponge was thrust into the Reaper's hand. "And now you get to do it."

Draco was hesitant, but more out of fear of making a mistake than distaste for the task. It took him a little longer to wash the dish he had picked up, but at last he held it out to Watari. "Like that?"

"Perfect!" The boy picked up another dish and tried to repeat his actions. Watari took one of the pots that the food had been burnt in, and poured some water and soap into it, "Things like this will be harder to clean, so let the water soak into it for a while... that way it will be easier to deal with."

"I see."

"Hold off on the dishes for a bit, and I can show you the easiest way to make something to eat," the blonde chuckled. Right on cue, Draco's stomach growled.

* * *

It took most of the day for the two of them to get the small apartment back in shape. Draco continued to be curious about these new 'muggle' ways of doing things. He seemed to gradually be recovering his sarcastic personality, but it seemed to be more in jest then rude. 

By the time they had everything cleaned and put away, they were both too tired to even think about cooking. Watari flopped down on the sofa that threatened to collapse under him. "I give up... I'm not doing anything else tonight." Draco was already sitting at the other end. He was slumping, obviously tired.

The shinigami drew his knees up close and was about to say something when he was interrupted by a strange ringing sound. Fumbling around, the blonde pulled a silver item from a pocket and started speaking to it.

Draco summoned up enough energy to watch curiously. After a few moments, a button was pressed on the silver object and it was returned to the pocket. "Tsuzuki invited us to join him..."

"How? I didn't hear him?"

Watari blinked, "You don't know what a phone is... do you?"

"Phone?"

"A phone sends and receives the sound of a person's voice from one unit to another, making it possible to speak to someone even if they aren't in the same room." The silver object was brought back out, "this is a mobile phone... because it can be carried around by it's owner."

"That's amazing... muggle magic."

Watari laughed, "Nanjiro explained to me what a 'muggle' was before he left... so, I guess that to a certain extent, that is what this is... muggle magic."

"Ah. So that was Tsuzuki?"

"Hei, that was Tsuzuki... and he wanted us to join him at the Rolling Barrel Pub." Half crawling, half sliding, the blonde shinigami got off the sofa, "from the way he sounded, I'd say that he's not in the best shape."

"Us?"

"Come on, drag your undernourished behind off that sofa and put on a jacket." Sitting on the floor, the blonde looked over at Draco, "Yes, us... now get a move on, I'm hungry."

The younger blond pulled himself to his feet. "Undernourished?" He grabbed a sweater and pulled it over his head.

"Yes, undernourished... silly boy." Watari admonished. Pulling himself to his feet, the teen laughed,

Draco looked affronted as he followed the shinigami out the door. "I'm just slim... it's important for a seeker."

* * *

At the Rolling Barrel, it was obvious that Tsuzuki had already had his share of alcohol already. Moist violet eyes wavered with joy as his friends came in... 

"Watari! Draco!"

"What's wrong with him?" Draco whispered to Watari.

A set of drinks were pushed into the newcomer's hands. "Join me... I'm thinking of retiring... there's a psycho murdering people because he loves me and wants to use me in only Enma knows what kind of experiment, the last living male descendant of my family is gay and his sister is in a coma... and my partner hates me..."

The boy's silver eyes looked a bit wild. He sat down when Watari did but obviously didn't know what to say or do. Watari finally drank the beverage after a bit of coaxing from the inebriated male. Hesitantly, Draco also took a sip. He made a face and coughed.

"Tsuzuki, you can't retire... you still owe too much from when you and Terazuma destroyed the library," the blonde shinigami stated flatly moments before a second drink was put in front of him.

"I don't care... it won't matter if I move on..." He nearly drained his glass. "Come on boy... drink up." The young blond did with obvious reluctance.

"As for your psycho... even if you weren't around, he'd still be killing people and selling organs on the black market," the blonde wrinkled his nose when Tsuzuki popped a sugar cube in his mouth, but accepted the one offered to him.

"My family is ending... there will be no one to carry it on..." He finished his drink and waved for another. Draco had finished his drink out of politeness sake.

He was fairly positive that the sugar was intended to be used in coffee, and not be used as a snack... Sighing, Watari finished off his second drink and motioned for another one, this was going to be a long night. Seeing that Draco's was done, he requested something sweeter for the teen. "Tsuzuki... at least the boy is happy, would you rather Ran-kun be completely miserable?"

"No... but... I don't want him to do that stuff. And I want his sister okay..."

"True, being an assassin isn't the best thing for a teen... "

Tsuzuki sniffed. He grabbed the fresh drink and fortunately only sipped it this time. "He's hurting... he blames himself all the time..."

Draco eyed the new drink in front of him. He tentatively sipped it. This was much better.

Watari downed about half of his this time, Tsuzuki had great timing... at least this happened on their normal night to go out drinking anyway. "We could always ask someone to go and help seal a few nightmares away?"

Wobbly violet eyes unleashed their full effect on the blond. "Really? What about Aya?"

Draco had no idea what or who they were talking about. He contented himself with sipping his drink. He was starting to feel a little warm.

Watari waved that one off, his cheeks starting to redden, "Give her about a week without all the extra drugs going into her system, and she'll be fine."

"Oh... okay." He got more somber again. "Tatsumi is going to have to find me a new partner again..."

The blonde finished his drink, "what happened... "

"Hisoka hates me..."

Another drink was put in front of Draco. This one was even better than the one before.

"I'm sure that Bon doesn't hate you," Watari stated as he wondered how a new drink appeared in his hand.

"Yes he does... I was stupid again. It's all my fault. He hates me..."

* * *

"Oh, Hi Bon!" Watari waved to Hisoka as the empath stomped into the pub. "Take Tsu-chan home before he does something stupid..." 

"BAKA... I've been waiting up for you!" He stood over their table, hands on his hips.

Cowering, the brunette immediately began bawling about how Hisoka hated him as the diminutive blonde dragged his partner out of the pub. Draco was sitting at a definite lean, watching as the two shinigami left.

Leaning towards his partner, the long haired blonde smiled, "it might be a good idea to get you home... chibi."

"Huh? Home... ah yes! Okay then." He giggled as he tried to stand and fell against the table. Sliding out from the booth, Watari blushed slightly when he realized how close he had gotten to Draco. The silver-eyed boy grinned. "How do we get home?" Throwing his arms around the Reaper, they were teleported back to the teen's apartment... more than slightly off balance by the alcohol in his system, Watari tried to get them to the living room, but wound up in the bedroom by mistake.

Draco swayed and fell, pulling the other blond with him. Fortunately the bed broke their fall. Draco started laughing.

Pinned beneath the taller teen, the shinigami started to laugh as well... "can't... get... up..." he managed to say between laughs.

"s.. sorry..." Still giggling, Draco tried to roll off Watari, inadvertently rubbing their bodies against each other. Hazel eyes closed slowly as a small groan escaped the Japanese blonde's lips. "Did I hurt you?"

"iie..." he whispered...

"You're pretty." He whispered back.

The shinigami giggled nervously and squirmed beneath the silver eyed teen. "thank you?"

"you're welcome..." His hand stroked the long blond hair. Leaning into the touch, Watari sighed contentedly. Draco shifted off the shinigami, mostly. His leg rubbed up and down between Watari's. He buried his face in the long golden locks. Mint, those satiny locks smelled like mints almost as delicious as the little whimpers that were coming from the blonde himself. He cradled the shinigami's chin, turning his face toward his. He sought out the soft lips, wanting to taste the other blond.

It was a gasp that parted the shinigami's lips, followed by a low moan that could only mean encouragement for the British teen. Draco took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside. His hand slid down, feeling for the swelling flesh inside Watari's pants.

Arching up into Draco's hand, the hazel eyed blonde gently started to suck on the tongue probing his mouth. That questing hand played with the button on the blonde's jeans. Undoing it and sliding the zipper down... Draco tried to see what kind of underwear the shinigami wore. For some reason, the sensible looking white briefs were not a shock. It was an easy matter to slide his hand up and then inside the waistband. Breaking the kiss, Draco moved on to teasing the delicate ear.

Without realizing it, Watari spread his legs to make the maneuvering easier.

The alcohol was fogging his brain. Draco was acting on feeling and instinct. He nibbled along the slender neck, hand seeking and finding the stiffening shaft inside the interfering clothing. Thrusting involuntarily up into the teen's hand, the shinigami whimpered, "please..."

He tried to pull off the clothing, but it was awkward. Draco growled. He nipped the side of the blonde's neck. Moaning, the shinigami ran his hands up Draco's sides and started to tug the shirt out of the pants. The Reaper pushed himself away. He rose to his knees and started to tear his clothing off as quickly as he could.

Sitting up, Watari leaned towards the teen who was rapidly removing his clothes and started kissing a line up that smooth abdomen.

Shivers ran up and down the boy's torso and he gasped. "Aaaah..." Draco moaned. Pulling his shirt off the rest of the way, he braced his arms behind him, leaving his chest fully exposed. The shinigami wrapped his arms around the reaper and lightly nipped at one erect nipple. Draco cried out, head falling back. His breath quickened.

Continuing to the next nipple, the blonde reached out and started undoing Draco's pants. The teen was moaning continuously. Little shivers and shudders ran through his body. "please... more..."

Once the stiff organ had all but leaped out, Watari massaged it a little and hazel eyes peered up at the silver eyed teen. "more?"

Draco whimpered, head still thrown back. "yes... please..." The blonde pulled the remainder of his own clothing off and started kissing up Draco's neck. "oooh..." The teen moaned, his arms threatening to give way.

He couldn't help but laugh when Draco's arms did give way, and the Reaper collapsed on top of him again. The boy started to tug at the other blonde's remaining clothes. "off... come off..." Still laughing, Watari began trying to get the buttons and zippers to work properly so the clothes would come off... Once the clothes were finally off, Draco's hands wandered all over. He sought out the sensitive places with fingers while his tongue traced the pulse point of the blonde's neck. Shuddering, the scientist now turned teen, moaned and wrapped his legs around the blonde who was currently pressing his interest into Watari's stomach.

The boy's hips twitched unconsciously. He moaned against the slender throat. He stroked whatever flesh came within reach.

"please..."

He moaned again. It turned him on so much hear someone beg... His hand slid between them fingers rubbing the swelling erection.

Whimpering, the shinigami tried to thrust into the touch... "please..."

Draco groaned. "i need..."

Hazel eyes opened and quickly glanced about the room. "night table... hand lotion..."

The teen fumbled for the lotion, almost knocking it off in his hurry. He managed to get the cap open and some of the lotion on his hand without making too much of a mess. Fingers sought the entrance he so eagerly wanted to explore. Slipping one slicked finger in past that almost impossibly tight muscle, Draco heard a sharp gasp. The alcohol in his system was making everything a little surreal. Blaise didn't usually sound like that... and he hadn't been so tight before. Maybe it was because he hadn't topped Blaise in so long.

"hurts..." the voice sounded somewhat pained even as the body squirmed and writhed from just one digit.

"sorry..." He slowly moved the finger in and out, it had definitely been a long time. Slowly the entrance began to relax. He took the opportunity to slip a second finger inside. Dipping his head, he teased one nipple with his tongue.

"Aaah..."

Draco repeated his ministrations until the body beneath him was pliable and begging. He slicked his erection. Sliding up a bit he kissed his partner deeply as he started to slip inside... It felt like sliding into satin... Moaning, the body beneath him continued to writhe. He broke the kiss, gasping. Pulling out, he thrust deeply.

Watari arched up, panting, he tried not to cry out.

Draco groaned, it felt so good. He quickly lost himself in the feelings surrounding and infusing him.

Thrusting back against the Reaper, the blonde did cry out loudly when his entire body was set aflame with pure pleasure.

It was good... but it wasn't enough. He pulled out and coaxed his partner to roll onto his hands and knees. Hazel eyes glanced back a little uncertainly as Watari moved to his hands and knees... Draco parts the silken buttocks and slips inside again. He moaned and wrapped his arms around the slender form.

"please..."

The boy resumed his previous rhythm. He nipped the smooth back. "yes... so good..."

* * *

Responses to Reviews: 

Anonymous: Hisoka is off happily snuggling with Tsuzuki.

Morella-20: Nice to know that you've been hooked. There's another really good YnM/HP crossover called 'When Death comes a'knocking.' It's listed over in my favorite stories.

GhostHelwig: Clicked on this expecting to hate it... Wow, was my summary _that_ bad? Jejeje. But thanks for the compliment on our keeping the characters with the right personalities.


	7. Hermione, Go HOME!

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.

Anything within this style of brackets is -(ENGLISH)-

Now, on with the fic.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter six.

He woke sick to his stomach, and saw a sea of gold as he opened his eyes. Around his cock, Draco could feel it enveloped by a deliciously tight heat... He snuggled a little closer. "mmm... morning Blaise."

The blonde next to him stiffened at the name, as well as tightened around his member.

Wait a minute... Blaise wasn't blond. This wasn't Hogwarts. That wonderful pressure around his morning erection was pleasant though. What wasn't pleasant was the growing pain behind his eyes and the queasiness of his stomach.

"who is blaise?" A small and fragile sounding voice asked.

"Huh? Blaise is another Slytherin..." The nausea was growing.

The form moved, and stiffened once more when it was apparent that they were still very intimately connected. "i... think that... we're... uhm... still..." Blushing from top to, ahem, bottom, the long haired blonde bowed his head effectively hiding his face with those silken locks.

When the blond moved... it felt like the whole bed moved. And the world started to spin. Draco was going to be sick. He pulled away and tried to scramble from the bed and into the bathroom before he lost it. He wasn't sure how long he spent in there... throwing up until he was left dry heaving and clutching the cool porcelain of the toilet. All he knew was that he wished he could die, again. Unfortunately, he could also finally remember what had happened the night before. Sort of. He remembered the bar, and drinking something that tasted good... maybe a few somethings. Then things got a little, ok a LOT fuzzy.

The fact that he had woken up... INSIDE someone, wasn't helping either. He groaned. Hopefully Watari didn't hate him. He rinsed his mouth... it was tricky, staying on the floor and reaching up to the sink but he managed it. He flushed the toilet and crawled back towards the bedroom.

Watari, surprisingly enough, was still on the bed, except now he was sitting up and had his knees pulled up close. Draco knelt beside the bed, resting his head on the mattress. "i'm sorry..."

"for what?" was the response, the shinigami's voice sounded about as miserable as the silver eyed teen felt.

"everything..." His eyes closed against the slivers of light peeking through the curtain. "for being a brat... and getting drunk..."

"drink water..."

"i'm never drinking again..." He really wanted to lay back down, but climbing back up onto the bed required too much work. "i'm sorry i thought you were blaise..." The blonde just looked away and disappeared without a word. Draco looked at the empty space for a bit. Finally he pulled the closest pillow and the blanket off the bed and curled up on the floor.

---

Sitting high up on a wall, Nanjiro watched the throngs of people flowing out of the airport. Most other telepaths would hate to be this close to this many different minds. As long as there wasn't anyone overly aggressive, the experience wasn't so bad, it was almost like be swept along by the currents at the beach. Besides, with all the Americans walking around here... it is one of the best spots to learn really 'interesting' English that he could use to annoy Dray with.

All in good humor of course.

Picking up snippets of mental processes, he would sometimes give a person a small push in the direction that they needed to go... a dark woman towards the bathroom her daughter needed so badly... a young couple out of the airport and into the taxi that would charge them less... that pickpocket into stealing from a cop...

Mismatched green eyes blinked, 'Wizarding community'? Didn't Dray-chan use the word 'wizard'? Letting long legs swing back and forth, he watched a young lady with bushy hair as she walked around rather aimlessly. Shoot, maybe sending her to a salon would be a good idea... Smirking, the teen grabbed enough English from the tourists around 'little miss bushy'... /-(Sorry baby, no wizard here...)-/

The girl stopped dead in her tracks, the people around her forced to either stop or sidestep to avoid her. "-(What?)-"

He knew that he sounded far from a native speaker, but he didn't think that his accent was that strong. /-(Bushy-hair girl... go home, what you look is not here.)-/ Nanjiro was really starting to like the idea of a salon more and more...

"-(Well, really!)-" She started to stomp off towards the waiting rows of taxis.

Looks like this would be his entertainment... not that watching Watari and Draco avoid each other wasn't entertaining, especially when he knew for a fact that Dray-chan barely had a clue how to even turn on his rice-cooker.

There was an attraction between those two... too bad that it was acted on when they were both drunk off their rockers.

/-(not that car... take next one... man with crooked hat better for visiter.)-/

Of course the girl got into the first car. She gave the man the name of one of the mid-priced hotels in Tokyo.

/-(company owned taxi is higher price than private... man with crooked hat private taxi.)-/

She was doing her best to ignore him, looking around at her first sight of Tokyo.

There was a slight thump on the roof of the taxi when it came to the first red light. /-(There is good hair place in stores to left...)- my lover, -(say is best in area...)-/ the voice chimed in after she thought she had thankfully lost it.

Hmmp... her hair was fine. She had work to do, this wasn't really a vacation.

/-(Hair not fine. is big and bushy... even taxi driver think so.)-/

She didn't care about her hair. If she wanted to, she could magic it smooth. She had too much to do to worry about silly things like that.

/-(magic?)-/

Well... she WAS a witch.

/-(why is bushy hair witch in Japan?)-/ Even she could hear the curiosity in that mental voice.

Research... she thought about the paper she was working on, comparing styles of magic around the world.

/-(your name?)-/

Hermione. She thought without considering that maybe she shouldn't be giving this information to someone she couldn't even see.

/-(Hermione-chan... you look magic, not wizard.)-/ The voice said as the taxi started to slow down no where near a hotel.

She didn't understand what that disembodied voice meant. But she knew this wasn't her hotel. "-(Where are we?)-"

Steps framed with majestically looking Torii lead the way up the steep incline that the vehicle stopped at. /-(better place for Hermione-chan,)-/ The voice sounded slightly winded, as though its owner was exerting him/herself.

"-(Better place? What about my hotel?)-"

A blue haired teen came dashing down the stairs. With a smile he trotted over to the taxi and started talking to the taxi driver. The driver opened her door then went to the back and pulled out her bag setting it on the curb. Hermione climbed out, not sure what was going on. Her Japanese wasn't good enough to keep up with their conversation. "-(What's going on?)-"

Mismatched green eyes twinkled as the teen picked up her bag, "-(I say you is my friend... also convince driver already paid.)-"

"-(Why? Who are you?)-"

"-(Person who bother from Narita.)-" He pointed up at his face and smiled brightly. "-(Magic girl need use charm... engrish is very bad.)-"

"-(Charm? Oh... the translation charm...)-" She dug into the bag she was carrying and pulled out a book. She looked around them to see if anyone was watching, then pulled out a wand as well. A few swishes and muttered words in latin... "Can you understand me now?"

The teen gave her a blank look for a moment, before snickering... "Yes. That was almost like hearing that silly tv commercial... 'can you hear me now...'"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Still laughing, the teen bowed to her, "I am Ishida Nanjiro."

"Hermione Granger."

"The information you are looking for... you won't find it by staying at the hotel." Moving towards the stairs, Nanjiro looked back at her to see if she was going to follow or not.

---

He'd been attempting to hide out in the library, while he might not be able to read the books, he could still very well look at the pictures in their so-called 'mangas'. Draco had thought that he was doing a good job of staying as far away from his partner as possible... Britain didn't want him, and at least Watari hadn't had him sent away for what he did to him.

The teen was trying to figure out how to make the pictures move in the page when a girl with mismatched amber and hazel eyes came over and grabbed him by the cuff of his sleeve. Walking off, cuff firmly still in her grip, she dragged him along with her in the direction of Watari's lab.

"Hey? What's going on?"

Turning around in a flurry of curls and ribbon, the girl faced him, "You and Watari-san are going to stop this silly game you two are playing... it's giving everyone a headache."

He tried to jerk the sleeve of his robe out of her grip. "I'm respecting his wishes. He wants nothing to do with me!"

"Are you really?"

"He hates me... I messed up and he hates me." He shrugged. "nothing new... everyone hates me eventually."

The girl crossed her arms, "you two slept together, and now you say that he hates you... don't be absurd."

Draco snorted. "I screwed up okay... I called him by another person's name. He disappeared. What else am I supposed to think!"

She shook her head, "Watari was also drinking... he disappeared because HE had to go throw up. The reason that he's been avoiding you because he thinks that he might have taken advantage of you in that situation."

"Taken advantage of me! I'm the one who..." His voice trailed off as he looked away, face bright red.

"There's several telepaths around... they've already gotten your point of view, Watari's point of view... and Nanjiro's point of view as he jogged past your apartment that morning." She said in a no-nonsense manner.

"Well EXCUSE me for not being able to read minds." He said in his most sarcastic tone.

He didn't know where she pulled the fan from, but the girl smacked Draco over the head with the folded paper, "we will get everything straightened out between the two of you..."

"Ouch! Why can't you just leave it?" He rubbed his head.

Silently, she dragged the still protesting Draco into the lab...

---

Trudging up what Hermione thought must have been magicked stairs, the two teens finally made it to the top.

"Alright... Welcome to the shrine tended by the Wakaba family." Nanjiro grinned.

"Why are we here?"

"You want to learn about Japanese style magic, right?"

"Of course!"

"Japanese style magic has nothing to do with waving a little stick in the air and saying a silly phrase..."

The girl frowned at him. "The wand is not a 'little stick'. It is a finely made tool, attuned to the user. And those 'silly phrases' are Latin." Laughing, the blue haired teen sauntered over to a table that was filled with small trinkets that Hermione couldn't identify very well. On the right, an elderly woman wearing an odd white top and wide red pants that tied in the front was sweeping the path. Hermione wandered over to the table. "What are these?"

He picked up a small wooden block that resembled a tablet and had a drawing on it, "these are made by either the priestess or her husband the caretaker... you write what you wish for, and then it is tied into a tree for it to work."

She looked skeptical. "Really?"

"Others you take home with you... and there are even some good luck charms to hang on the mobile phone." Laughing, he held up a small charm that had a bell and looked like it might be a fox.

"And you believe these things work?"

He pointed out into the forest where several charms hung from the trees, "I'm not the only one who seems to believe in these."

"I meant 'you' as in culturally."

"Yes, we do..."

"Interesting." One could see her making mental notations.

"You know... because of all I'm doing for you, you need to do something for me," Dropping the charm back in with the rest, Nanjiro crossed his arms behind his head and smirked at the girl.

She took a step back. "I'm NOT that kind of girl!"

He looked almost amused at her statement, "I HAVE a _boyfriend_ already..."

"Oh... sorry..."

"Sheesh, I'm only a pervert under the right circumstances." Laughing, he straightened out and gave a little stretch.

"So... what do you want?"

"Because of an accident I had several years ago, I've become a little sensitive to some particular protective charms that are a pain to put up and take down." Opening the bag a small silver digital camera is pulled out, "I'm not going to even think about asking the Wakaba's to take them down... but if you could just fill up the memory card on this with photos, it would be appreciated." He commented as the camera was handed over to the somewhat confused girl.

"I don't understand what you are talking about..."

Nanjiro sighed, "I have a school project on temples and shrines within the Tokyo area... and I can't really go around and ask the people to take down their charms because I need some photos."

"Oh... okay... Um... I'd be happy to take some pictures... I guess."

Clasping his hands in front of him, Nanjiro bowed deeply but quickly. "Arigatou!"

The girl took the camera and looked it over. "I think I can use this... what do you want pictures of?"

"Shrines, people, anything and everything... that camera has a gig of memory on it..."

"Okay then... I'll be back later."

/I'll be back later too... I already spoke to Wakaba Kikyo so you could stay here rather than at a boring hotel, and she agreed./

"Why? I mean... I'm a total stranger." Turning back to where the blue haired teen was, Hermione can only see a few leaves rustling where he had been standing a few moments before.


	8. Hugging makes you womanly

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter seven.

Sitting on one of the stools that wasn't being used for horizontal storage, Watari sat blushing... Wakaba had said that she was going to force him and Draco to make peace, or she was going to lock them both in a closet after finding that potion that had made Terazuma make-out with Tsuzuki. The blond boy himself was sitting gingerly on one of the other stools. He looked ready to bolt the instant the girl let go of his sleeve. His silver eyes darted around, not settling on anything, or anyone for more than a second or two.

"Watari, Draco has been avoiding you because he thinks that you hate him." She said while looking (though glare would have been a more appropriate description) at the long haired blonde before turning her attention towards the teen she had firmly in her grip. "Draco, Watari has been avoiding you because since he is older than you... he thinks that he took advantage of you in that situation."

The Reaper shook his head. "No... it's my fault. I don't... I don't remember everything but it's my fault."

Now it was Watari's turn to shake his head, "Draco, I'm three and a half times as old as you..."

The girl stood back, it was interesting now that she had them at least communicating. Though, why hadn't Watari returned himself to his normal age by now she wondered. It wasn't like he wasn't trying... that day he came in invisible again was interesting to say the least. Seeing the resident doctor doing the complete Orson Well's Invisible Man imitation once more was almost worth the oddity of seeing him as a teen on a daily basis. Although Draco wasn't really communicating. He was pretty much just sitting there, staring at the floor and obviously trying to just wait them out until they would let him run away again. He was as bad as Hisoka at times, she swore.

"I thought that you hated me because of what I did... and because I should have shown more self-control in that situation." Watari finally admitted, not even looking in Draco's direction.

"I didn't... I don't, hate you. You made it pretty obvious that you were disgusted by me."

Hazel eyes blinked in surprise, "I did what?"

"You couldn't wait to get away. Don't worry... I'm used to it by now. No one wants to be around a Malfoy."

Watari shook his head, "I didn't leave because I don't like being around you. I left because I had more to drink than you did... and well..."

"Look... you don't need to make excuses. I get it, okay? I won't bother you."

Wakaba thought that this looked like a good enough time for her to disappear.

Hopping off his stool, the shinigami went over to Draco so that he could face him better. "What do you get?"

"You're stuck with me... I'm used to that. People don't want to be with me after a certain amount of time. I'll do what you need me to do and stay away the rest of the time." Long delicate fingers turned the Reaper's head towards the long haired blonde where a shy and gentle kiss was hesitantly planted on those soft lips. Draco reeled back, nearly falling off the narrow stool. "Wh... what? What do you want?"

Pain, hurt and confusion was visible in those hazel eyes as the blonde stepped back from the boy. "gomen," he whispered.

"I... I don't understand. You don't want me around but then you kiss me?" The young blond looked surprised and confused.

"I never said that I didn't want you around..."

Draco looked genuinely lost.

Taking another step back, Watari looked like he was on the verge of tears, "i never said that i didn't want you around..."

Draco looked up, his silver eyes showing hurt. "you left... I apologized and you still couldn't wait to get away from me... what was I supposed to think?"

Finally against the wall, the shinigami let himself slide down into a seated position. Hugging his knees to his chest, Watari kept his eyes glued to the floor, "i'd had more to drink than you did... i didn't think that it was right to get sick in your apartment..."

Draco stumbled off the stool and sat on the floor as well. "I stayed on the floor... I'd never apologized to anyone before... I just couldn't... I don't know what to do!" His fingers dug into his hair, pulling on it painfully. The teen felt himself be pulled into a warm embrace. He turned into the blonde's chest, hiding his face. A couple tears of pure frustration escaped from tightly clenched eyes.

"no one knows what to do..." Watari whispered as he pulled the wizard closer and sighed as he rested his chin on Draco's shoulder.

"i don't know what you want... i'll do it... just tell me what you want..."

"i want you to be happy..."

"happy?" He said it like it was a totally foreign concept.

The shinigami let his fingers run idly through the teen's hair. "hei... happy."

"happy... it's been so long since i was happy..."

---

Instead of going back to his apartment that evening, Draco tagged along with Watari to the shinigami's home instead. The boy had been hesitant. But had obviously been spending far too much time alone and didn't want another evening by himself. Some carrots were handed over to the British teen as well as a peeler...

"Start peeling those, I'll take care of the rest..." Watari said with a gentle smile. Draco kind of stared at the tool for a moment before figuring out how to use it. More or less. He mangled a couple carrots before getting the hang of the task.

It wasn't long before the smell of good food cooking made the Reaper's stomach growl. Draco ducked his head, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"It's nice to know my cooking is appreciated." The hazel eyed teen commented as he twirled a spatula, "go on and sit at the kotatsu ... and I'll bring it out..."

"ko-what?"

"Kotatsu... table."

"Oh... okay." He stood over the low table. "Isn't it a little... small?" Sounds from the kitchen nearly made the teen's mouth water...

"Small?"

"There are no chairs..."

Watari came out of the kitchen with a set of trays filled with food and started to arrange them on the table. "What chairs?"

"You don't sit in chairs?" The blond looked confused.

The shinigami shook his head before going into the kitchen to get the last of the food in there, "not normally... wait, your apartment was set up in a western style, right?"

"There's a difference?"

Coming out with the last, and the drinks, Watari settled himself on a cushion next to the table. "Hei, there is a big difference... and you sit on the pillows..."

"Oh." He dropped carefully and perched on one of the pillows. One thing that he noticed, was a severe lack of forks, spoons, or knives on the table. He looked around... the only spoon seemed to be a very flat paddle that was obviously for serving rice. Ick... more rice... he'd seen enough rice. The other blonde started to serve the food... with sticks? "Sticks?"

Watari chuckled, "Chopsticks... this is what is normally used."

"Oh... okay..." He looked very skeptical.

---

Locating the bus hadn't been easy, and it had taken a little tweaking on her translating charm, but Hermione had managed to understand at least a little bit of the complicated writing system used here. Walking around Tokyo, Hermione noticed a very familiar looking blue haired teen hanging around an older man... "Hey!"

/hermione? go away... can't you see that i'm on a date/

She could see the older man grab the teen by his upper arm and roughly drag him into a building. /well sorry... i thought you wanted your camera back./

/i'll pick it up... tomorrow/ he answered.

A sliver of pain crept into the link between the two teens, and Hermione thought that she could hear a slight whimper... /fine then.../ She paused for a moment. /are you okay/

/I said leave me alone/

Not liking what she 'heard'... the witch stalked into the building the blue-haired teen had disappeared in to. "Nanjiro?" On the other side of the building, that turned out to be filled with offices which were currently closed, she could hear a person yelling...

'Why the hell can't you ever do anything right? You can't even show up on time... why do I even bother with a miserable brat like you anyway?'

She frowned. This didn't sound right... didn't he say he was on a date?

'That's it... cry... cry like the brat you are...'

The girl scowled and headed for where she could hear that voice. "Nanjiro!" Throwing open the door, she entered the room and saw Nanjiro pinned against the wall. A man who would have been exceedingly sexy if he wasn't red faced in anger glared at her but didn't bother to lower his hand to the teen in his grip. "Let him go!"

Nanjiro was slammed against the wall, "I didn't know that you liked little girls..."

"Hiro... it isn't like that." The teen whimpered in obvious pain.

"What are you doing to him?"

"Nan-kun," the disdain was nearly dripping over the man's words, "tell your little friend to go home, and maybe I'll forgive you for tonight."

Rolling his head so that he could look at the witch, she could see a small trickle of blood from the corner of Nanjiro's mouth plus plenty of cuts and bruises on his face, "hermione... go away.

---

Bringing a set of mugs filled with hot cocoa and marshmallows, Watari hands one over to Draco and sits down. Locating the remote, the shinigami checks to see if the batteries are still alive before clicking the tv on and switching to a station he hopes might have a movie playing. The young blond was staring at the remote curiously. "What is that?" He sipped at the cocoa.

"Simplest explanation... muggle magic." Smiling, Watari held up the remote so that Draco could see it, "this turns on the television... and the television shows people or drawings that have been recorded and sent out to those specific boxes."

"Why would people want to look at that?"

"Think of it akin to going out to the theater or to a sporting event and not having to leave the comfort of your own home."

"Oh, okay." He was sitting very stiffly on the couch, back straight and feet planted on the floor. "Do you often watch this... thing?"

"Not really. I prefer reading." Watari took a sip from his cocoa, and waited for the teen to put his mug down.

"Ah." He took another sip of his cocoa, then put his cup down on the end table beside him. He folded his hands, placing them in his lap. His mother's lessons on etiquette had been drilled into him for years and still molded his behavior.

Smiling mischievously, the shinigami pulled the reaper back with him against the sofa cushions... disturbing 003 in the process. Flying across the room, the small own located her perch and hooted indignantly at the two teens.

Draco flailed for a moment. "Wha!"

Watari held the silver eyed boy and did his best not to laugh, "relax, you looked uncomfortable."

"Ummm... ah... I guess." He seemed uncertain.

"You don't have to try and behave polite here... you're my pain in the neck partner and nothing short of destroying my lab again will make me get rid of you. So... relax." Draco's hair was mussed up to add emphasis to the last words.

The boy's hands immediately went to try to fix his hair... largely unsuccessfully. He was still somewhat stiff but his attention was caught by the television. "What is that?"

Watari looked at the screen, "Oh, that is a movie from America... I think that it was called... Back to the Future?"

"Back to the Future? That doesn't make any sense."

The long haired blonde wrapped his arms around the reaper and sighed, "the main story is about a boy who ends up in the past and is trying to get back to his present... their future.

---

Drifting in and out of sleep, Draco finally wakes completely and finds himself cuddled up to a still sleeping Watari. He panicked. He didn't want a repeat of before. The young blond tried to extricate himself from the shinigami. Yawning, the blonde shinigami wrapped his arms even tighter around the teen. Draco grimaced. This wasn't good. He tried to slip down, out of Watari's arms.

"ohayo..."

Draco froze. Hazel eyes opened and Watari smiled warmly at the teen. "um... sorry... I'll just ah... slide out here..."

"sorry?" The shinigami looked truly confused, but allowed the reaper to slip out of his arms.

Draco moved off the couch, sitting on the floor. "i didn't mean to... um... hold you."

"There's nothing wrong with that... "

The blond turned away from the shinigami, muttering softly.

"I didn't catch that..."

"nothing..."

Watari slid to the floor next to Draco, "Okay, so why was it so wrong for you to hold me?"

Silver eyes darted up, then back down to the floor again. "It's a weakness."

"What is the last time you remember being hugged?" The shinigami inquired.

"Hugged?" The boy looked thoughtful. "Except for a couple house elves... I must have been seven. When my nanny was sent away."

Watari shook his head. "Wanting the comfort of non-threatening physical contact is not a weakness... "

Draco frowned. "It's... womanly..."

"I wasn't aware that wanting contact magically transformed a person's genetics and made them female."

"No... it's... not, manly. To want that I mean." He sounded confused.

"It just shows that you are human."

The blond looked at him. "But... my father said..."

"How weak and womanly am I?" Laughing, Watari wrapped his arms around his partner.

The boy stiffened, almost instinctively. "Well... you do have long hair..."

"Yes, I have long hair..."

Draco snickered. "my father has long hair... longer than yours actually."

"So, we can't use long hair as a basis for saying someone is womanly... "

"Its really... okay, to want..."

Watari gave the teen a warm smile, "it's okay to want..."

Nibbling on his lower lip, Draco leaned against the other blond a little. Carefully Watari teleports them upstairs and into the bed... The smaller blond swayed as they were deposited on the mattress. "whoa... is that what apparating is like all the time?"

"I'm not the one to ask about that... since all I can really do is guess at what apparating is."

"What you just did... um... teleporting?"

"hei..."

Draco finally noticed where they were. "What? This is your room..." He tried to slip away.

Yawning sleepily Watari reluctantly let the teen slip away. "Beds are comfier than floors or sofas... not to mention more forgiving on my back."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I woke you up."

"It's really late... there's a bedroom across the hallway if you want to use that room, or sleep with me... I used to wake up all the time when was alive and find a nephew or two had crawled into my bed while I was asleep..."

"I can stay here? Really? You don't mind?" The blond looked uncertain and for once, like the boy he truly was.

"Hei... though, maybe we should get changed into some pajamas?"

"I don't have any."

Sliding off the bed Watari went to a dresser and opened one of the drawers. A set of flannel pajamas were brought out. "Saya and Yuma had too much fun getting clothes that would fit this teenage form..."

Blushing a bit, Draco accepted the pjs. He stepped into the adjoining bathroom to change. He stepped out, looking somewhat odd in a green and blue plaid. "Well... at least its not red and gold." The shinigami was already on the bed, wearing a red and white plaid set himself. "you're sure about..." He stared at his bare toes. "staying with you?"

"Only if you don't want to stay," Watari chirped.

The young man crept over and climbed up on the edge of the bed. "i'd like to stay..."


	9. Is that an oar?

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter eight.

Draco looked at the oar in Watari's hand in disbelief. How could the Japanese blonde even contemplate using that as a substitute for a broom? Apparently that mask telling them that this thing would work just as well as his Firebolt had been enough assurances for Watari... "Are you seriously going to use that?"

"It's no good for flying?" Hazel eyes looked over the wooden object in question, as though searching for a fault in it. "The Count said that this was perfect for me to use to learn how to fly..."

"I'm sure it is perfectly adequate... it's just... well... undignified!"

Watari looked at the oar, "How is it undignified?"

"It's... it's an OAR! That's not a broom!"

"Okay, so something that is used to clean up debris and dirt from the floor is more dignified to fly around on... when honestly oars are more associated with death?"

He clutched his broom to his chest. "You would NEVER use a flying broom to clean with!"

The shinigami sighed, "fine... let's stop arguing over what is more dignified. I see no problem with either an oar or a broom... the only differences being cultural acceptance of what is or isn't dignified."

"Oh all right... Shall we get started?"

"Hei hei!"

Draco demonstrated the proper way to mount and sit on the broom... or oar. "Just relax and let it do the work." He kicked off the ground and hovered a few feet in the air. Doing his best to follow the reaper's lead, Watari mounted the oar. Yelping, he nearly hit the ground... but stopped about a foot and a half short as his oar hovered shakily underneath him. "See... relax... let it support you."

Rising another two feet, the oar stabilized and 003 perched on the tip a few inches from where the blonde had the wood firmly gripped.

"Don't forget to breathe. Now to move lean slightly in the direction you want to go. The more sharply you lean the faster you'll go."

Going higher, the blonde leaned to the right and ended up twirling slowly in his ascent. "This is truly amazing..."

"You're doing very well." Draco skillfully ascended with him, close enough should he get in trouble, but not crowding. Flying was one of his few true joys, maybe he could finally have someone to share that with.

Looking down, the oar started to move with Watari, and soon the shinigami was upside down... and laughing as even the owl had enough sense to move so that she was right side up. "I don't think that this is quite right," the blonde laughed as he tightened his hold on the wood.

The wizard laughed. "I wouldn't be a good one to ask. As a Seeker I swear I spend half the match upside down."

"The match? That is part of your quidich game, ne?"

"Quidditch... yes. I was a Seeker. It was my job to try to find a small golden, flying ball in the middle of Chasers trying to score, Bludgers aimed at my head, and another team including another Seeker all flying around like crazy. It's absolute chaos... I love it." His smile fell. "i miss it..."

Still upside down, the shinigami looked thoughtful for a moment, "if there aren't too many people required to play... there is a possibility that we could play that with other shinigami?"

"Hmmm... too many for full teams... but we could make practice teams. It might be interesting. I doubt we could find anyone else to be another Seeker though."

"Promise Tsuzuki any sort of sweet and he will be the best at any position you put him in," Watari laughed.

"Hmmm... I suppose we should concentrate on teaching you first."

"I think that all of my blood is going to my head..."

"So roll back over." Flattening himself against the oar, Watari rolled over, and ended upside down once more... Draco couldn't help it and started laughing. Seeing that the broom seemed to be stabler than the oar, 003 fluttered over and perched near the bristles as the shinigami tried and failed once more to right himself. The Reaper drifted over to lend an arm for stability. "Here..."

Taking the arm, Watari managed to turn back upright, "Arigatou."

"No problem." He controlled his chuckles with difficulty. "Shall we move a bit?"

"Hei... and I want to go that way." Pointing forward, the shinigami started to slowly move backwards.

Helpless, Draco started to laugh again. "Lean forward... when you pointed your weight shifted back."

"At least I stayed upright?" Watari said blushing as he corrected his posture and started moving forward this time.

"Very true..." He coasted carefully alongside. "Remember what I said... the more you lean the faster you will go. If you want to stop, sit up."

Leaning closer to the oar, the shinigami picked up some speed. The wizard easily kept pace knowing how unnerving it can be the first time, when speed gets away from you. "It would be very convinient to do our rounds in this manner," Watari mused.

"It's generally not a good idea for Muggles to see us flying."

"To be able to effectively do our jobs, it is sometimes necessary for shinigami to move about in spirit form... I am positive that reapers have an equivalent."

The smaller blond shrugged. "I'm sure we do... however they neglected to inform me of anything."

"Your abilities might be in some of the documents that I managed to pull up..." Sitting back up, the shinigami narrowly avoided flipping upside down again.

"You need to get used to finding your center of balance. If you are off balance you will either turn or rotate." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Documents?"

Nodding, the bottom of the oar brushed against the tops of the sakura trees. "I copied over several files from Britain's department... but I can barely read English..."

"Oh... could I... maybe, look at them?" He stared at the distant top of the office building.

"Certainly," Leaning forward to head to the office, the blonde did flip over... but managed to right himself this time. Snickering, Draco followed closely behind.

---

High above Tokyo, Watari had to smile... Even though Draco still insisted that his riding an oar was undignified, it was fun, and while in spirit form made the job of doing the rounds in his block that much quicker. Tucked under one arm were a couple of scrolls that he thought the little magic using girl would find interesting... though, they did need to be returned to the library the next day, but that was why photocopiers were invented, right?

Draco ghosted in beside him. "So, do you enjoy flying?"

"Hei, it is a lot more convenient than having to walk all over Kyoto..."

"So why are we in, or rather over, Tokyo?"

He pointed to the scrolls, "Hermione-chan might like to have a look at these for her studies..."

Draco scowled. "I'll wait across the street."

Watari shrugged, "okay."

The Reaper didn't look entirely pleased with their errand, but didn't make anymore comments. He hadn't forgotten how Granger neglected to apologize, even after he had. That kind of discourtesy was exceedingly rude, and insulting besides.

---

Landing near the shrine, Watari left his oar hidden up in one of the trees close to the main building. About to slip out of spirit form, the blonde turned and realized that the girl was staring right at him.

"Interesting. Do magic users here ride oars instead of brooms?"

Hazel eyes widened behind round glasses, "you can see me?"

"Of course."

"But..." the blonde looked deeply confused. "how?"

"With my eyes. Why? Is there a reason I shouldn't be able to see you?"

"No, absolutely no reason that you shouldn't be able to see me..." the shinigami lied through his teeth.

"Oh, I thought maybe you were wearing a charm or cast a spell or something. So, do you have anything interesting?" She eyed the scrolls.

Finally Watari slipped out of spirit form, not realizing that the shadows shifted slightly around him when he did so. "Ask where I got these from, and I cannot allow you to use them," he said holding up the scrolls.

"Okay, I won't ask." Her eyes gleamed looking at the scrolls.

"This is the information that you won't find without knowing where and how to look," handing the scrolls over, he smiles a little nervously, "and I also have to get these back to where I borrowed them from as soon as possible..."

She glanced at the number of scrolls. "Even with copier quills it will take a couple days to copy them all..."

"And here I thought you were more associated with 'muggle' inventions," Watari laughed, "photocopier?"

"Oh, of course. Only I don't know where to find one."

"There's a library just down the street..."

"Perfect... um, if you could help me... I don't think I'll be able to read the buttons or display."

"No problem... but let me call up Draco to let him know that I will be longer than I expected..."

"Hmmm... amazing, he's actually lowered himself to carrying a 'muggle' device?"

"Be nice, he is not having the easiest time adjusting to being here..." She rolled her eyes but was already glancing through one of the scrolls. Draco answered his phone quickly. Watari was tempted to hit Hermione with one of the scrolls… but that might damage it, and he didn't want to take that kind of chance. "Draco... I'm going to take Hermione-san to the library so she can get the scrolls copied. Basically, this will take a little longer than I originally thought. Why don't you go to the Cinapon shop and get a snack in the meantime?"

"I'm not really hungry. I'll wait in that little park we passed."

"Hei hei... I'll meet you there then..."

The call cut off. The scroll Hermoine was looking through rustled faintly. "I see I'm going to have to work on some translation spells..."

Starting on their way, Watari began to point out a few things on the scrolls... such topography of a place called Gensoukai.


	10. Daddy dearest

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter nine.

The phone was clicked shut when someone yanked Draco around and slapped him across the face hard enough to send him a couple of feet. He clutched at his cheek, the heat already rising telling him that it was going to bruise. He shook the stars from his vision, looking around. "Hey... who the hell..."

Lucius glared down at his son. "Pathetic..."

"L... Lucius!"

"You are an embarrassment to Slytherin... using muggle trash."

Draco sneered. "It is useful. Think of it as using a fire without the smoke and soot. And what are YOU doing here?"

With his wand, the wizard lifted the edge of the teen's scarf and scowled. "I should have guessed that you would have stooped to using a cheap and paltry imitation of true sorcerer's robes..."

The young blond grabbed the end of his scarf, annoyed. "A friend made this for me. As you should remember, MINE was destroyed." He sniffed haughtily. "Besides, THIS one is made from silk yarn."

Lucius snorted then struck Draco across his other cheek with the wand, "that weak little half breed?"

The boy ignored the small cut that the tip of the wand made in his flesh. "In fact, yes... and some others made me my new robes, as mine were mangled by a demon."

"You were mis-sorted... you should have been placed with those miserable hufflepuffs. I knew that Narcissa had cheated on me... nothing as low as you could have been produced from my family."

Silver eyes flashed, but Draco's voice was coolly composed. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mother had cheated on you. She was undoubtedly looking for someone a little more virile."

Sneering, Lucius pointed his wand at the young wizard, "Petrificus totalus."

Draco was frozen in place. His eyes widened with fear. He couldn't be killed again, could he? The scarf was roughly taken from around his neck. "What are you doing?"

"You are no more a Slytherin than you are alive..." A horrible ripping sound was heard as the wizard began to tear the knit scarf apart.

"Stop it!"

It didn't take long for the silver and green scarf to be in shreds. The teen's wand was also taken and broken into several pieces. Silver eyes turned back to the teen and locked on the patch carefully sewn onto his robes. Ripping that off as well, Lucius dropped the items onto the ground, pointed his wand and muttered, "incendio," Sparks flew to life as the yarn and patch were soon devoured by flames.

"You bastard!" He tried to fight the spell, but without a wand of any sort, much less a functional one... Whatever the wizard was going to say next was lost when he was hit from behind... by the oar in Watari's hand. "Watari..." The relief and barely repressed panic was obvious in Draco's voice and expression.

"Touch my partner AGAIN and I will ensure that you will curse the day you were conceived!" The shinigami growled, oar held ready to strike again and mentally prepared to teleport out of the way of any spell the warlock should like to throw at him.

The man snarled and vanished. Draco seemed frozen in place. "Watari... you came."

Arms wrapped around the enchanted teen. "Of course I came..."

"Aaah... be careful!" Tipped off balance, the still frozen boy started to fall backwards.

Watari moved quickly to catch the falling wizard. "What the?"

"Its a body bind spell... it doesn't fade just because the bastard is gone!"

Blinking a few times, the shinigami opts to just lay the reaper down. "How is it taken off?"

"Finite Incantatum... but without a functional wand I can't work it. Even if I had a working wand I can't do the movements that go with it."

"Then we'll have to get either Tsuzuki or Wakaba to try a fuda." Looking around, the scientist consciously overlooked the charred remains still smoking on the ground, "where did you leave your broom?"

"By the tree... at the entrance to the park."

"I'll take you back to Meifu and then come to get the broom..."

"okay..."

---

Staring at the ceiling of the medi-center, Draco frowned. Thankfully Tsuzuki had been able to get the petrificus totalus off of him... but Watari still had yet to return with his broom. He hoped Lucius hadn't come back and gotten a hold of Watari... Not that it would make a bit of difference if he'd been there. He rolled over and on to his feet. The hole in the robes tore at his heart. He yanked the robe off and threw it as far from him as he could. That bastard... the anger he'd been holding back nearly blinded him. He was going to explode... he had to get away from everyone.

"Are you alright?" Standing in the doorway, Watari looked at the reaper with concern etched across his features.

"i need to get out of here..." He clenched his fists. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he lashed out at the blond.

"I'll be in the lab if you need me... when you are ready to leave come and get me, I don't want you being alone tonight."

Draco nodded and headed for the small dojo he'd seen. Hopefully he could find something to hit repeatedly.

Watching as the teen stalked off, the shinigami sighed. He'd found what was left of Draco's broom... the scarf and the patch hadn't been the only victims of that man's attack.

---

Fortunately for Draco, and everyone else, the dojo was empty. Hanging in one corner was a large punching bag. The blond started to vent his fury and frustration on the defenseless padding. He didn't really notice when the beads of sweat turned to tears. He ignored the sting of salt in his cut on his cheek and when drops fell on his now bleeding hands.

Finally his knees buckled and he fell to the floor. He sat there, chest heaving, blood dripping off his knuckles. "damn bastard..." He could still smell the smoke from when his things had been burnt.

How dare he! HOW DARE HE! How could he destroy them? Hadn't the bastard taken enough already?

Someone stepped into the open doorway to the dojo... at first the only thing that the teen recognized was that the person was male, adult and had long blonde hair. "You fucking bastard! Why can't you just leave me alone!" He slammed his fist into the wall, his rage manifesting as spontaneous wandless magic. It was wild, without direction or intent, raw power that burst out of him... setting the wood of the wall on fire. Draco gasped but just sat there staring at the growing flames.

"If that is how you feel... then as soon as the fire is put out then I will respect your wishes." Watari said as he went to get a fire extinguisher.

The voice penetrated Draco's shock. "watari? is that you?"

Foam and chemicals sprayed out, drenching the flames. "Who else would I be?"

Silver eyes, shiny with unshed tears, looked around at him. "you're big..."

"Hei... it was about time that I returned to my proper age."

"Oh... I thought... I saw a big person... and the hair." He cradled his hand

to his chest.

Putting the extinguisher down, Watari went over to Draco, "let me see your hand..." he said in a soothing voice.

"My hand?"

"Hei, your hand, chibi..."

Draco looked down. "oh..." He held it out to the shinigami. Blood still stained both hands.

Taking both hands into his own, the older blonde started to look them over as carefully as he could. The skin over the knuckles was healing. However the right hand... the one that he had slammed into the wall didn't look right. "Draco-kun... we need to go back to the medi-center for a moment, alright?"

"okay..." The boy just sat there though, staring at the broken hand. Teleporting himself and Draco, the shinigami splint and secured the hand... hoping to get this done and some pain killers into the teen before he comes out of shock. The boy stared at the ruined robe laying crumpled in the corner of the room. "Why did he do that.?"

"Because he could."

"But he was a Slytherin too?"

Watari pulled the slender teen into a comforting hug. "It is horrible what people do when they believe that they can get away with it..." he whispered.

"I didn't think he would find me..." Draco buried his face into the man's lab coat.

Petting the teen's hair, the shinigami kissed the top of the boy's head. "I won't let him hurt you again."

"I want to go home..."

"I'm taking you home with me... I don't want you along for now..."

"Can we go soon?"

Gathering up the reaper, Watari nods, "hei hei..."

Draco sniffed. "It hurts..."

"I know it hurts." The blonde murmured as they teleported to his house. Not bothering to change the teen, Watari simply tucks him into the bed. Stripping off his blue turtleneck, he contemplates removing the rest of his lab gear... His black body suit might look like something Nanjiro would have loved to borrow to go clubbing in, but the material was a polymer blend that he had come up with to provide him with at least a little more protection from the occasional explosion. With a sigh, the rest of his clothes went, and pair of pajama bottoms were pulled on. Retrieving Kuma from the bottom drawer, Watari handed the antique bear over as he slipped under the covers next to Draco.

The boy clutched the stuffed animal like it was a lifeline. He pressed as close to Watari as he could, the bear held protectively between them.

The older blonde stayed awake long enough to watch as the small teen reluctantly drifted to sleep. Sighing, Watari brushed a few strands of that silky hair away from Draco's dark lashes. The boy mumbled and shifted a bit. His face looked tense and worried. Smoothing down the pale blonde hair, the shinigami murmured a few comforting words into the teen's ear... hoping that would allow him an easier night's sleep.

Draco snuggled a little closer to the scientist, Kuma clutched in a death grip between them.

---

It was the thrashing around that woke the shinigami. It took him a little bit to realize why there was a person drenched in sweat, whimpering, tossing and turning from side to side in his bed... "Draco... Draco-kun... you need to wake up now..." the older blonde grabbed the teen's shoulders and tried to bring the boy out of his nightmares. Draco whimpered again, whipping his head to the side as if he'd been struck. He started to mumble in English, all Watari could understand was 'father' and 'why'. "Draco... WAKE UP!"

Silver eyes flew open as the boy inhaled sharply, his muscles locked. His eyes darted around as he panted, nearly hyperventilating. Almost instantly the teen found himself pulled into and held by a set of strong arms wrapping protectively around him.

"shhh... It's alright..."

"wh... where am i? what happened?"

"you were having a nightmare, chibi..."

"f... father..."

The embrace strengthened at the shiver that ran through the boy's body. "he won't hurt you... i won't let him..."

"i couldn't fight... i couldn't do anything... it's just like he said..."

A hand pet the teen's hair lovingly. "they were only empty words used as weapons to hurt you..."

"but I couldn't fight him... I wanted to, but I couldn't do anything." Draco twisted a bit in the blonde's hold so he could hide his face in Watari's chest. Tears begin to dampen the scientist's shirt.

The shinigami continued to stroke the fine blond hair. "it's all right..." The tears fell faster and Draco's fingers twisted into the fabric. He curled up, pressing as close as he could to the one being that represented safety. "don't worry... it will be all right..." Watari whispered.

By the time the tears ebbed, the teen was even more exhausted than before. Draco sniffed, rather un-Malfoy-like and lay there limp. He just had to know something. "what if he was right... what if I am just a weak disgrace..."

"I don't think that you are weak... or a disgrace..."

"really? but I caused you so much trouble..."

"hei... you caused trouble... but not intentionally..."

"you're not going to send me away?"

"Send you away?"

"please don't... he'll find me..." Draco clutched the blond even tighter. "please... i'll do whatever you want... anything..."

Pulling the small teen closer, Watari rested his head against the scared boy's crown. "i've never sent any of my partners away... i'm not about to start now with you..."

Draco was silent for a long time, when he did speak, his voice was faint and close to sleep. "kuma?"

"i think that you tossed him over the edge..."

"oh..."

---

Sitting high in a tree, Nanjiro watched as the sun rose. Humming he swung his legs back and forth... heavy dirty white running shoes weighed his legs down. Even though he was still in spirit form, he knew that he would have posed an odd sight in his jogging sweats. Black racing shorts and a tank top, that if it had been green instead of blue to match his hair, he would have claimed to be cosplaying that pilot from Gundam Wing. Chuckling he tried to imagine himself at one of those anime conventions that came by every so often. He'd seen enough people come out of the airport going to one... sometimes it wasn't a pretty sight... much the same as that puffy haired girl, Hermione, this early in the morning.

The witch was wandering somewhat aimlessly, carrying a notebook. Occasionally she would pause and write a bit before walking on again. "Hey bushy hair girl! You never apologized to Dray-chan!" he called over to her from the tree.

"What!" The girl looked up, trying to find the voice. "oh... it's you... are you okay?"

"No, I died..." Nanjiro said smugly.

"What!"

"Baaaaaaaaka..."

The girl frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It was a joke... baka, do I look dead to you?" The blue haired teen jumped down from the tree and landed on the pebbled path with the grace of a cat.

"You look remarkably healthy considering what you looked like the last time I saw you." A dawning look crossed her face. "Oh, of course. You have a form of healing magic here, don't you?"

Mismatched green eyes blinked. "You magic-users rely on magic for everything, ne?"

"I don't, but then I'm muggle-born. I swear that some of those pure blood families have never done anything without magic in their entire lives." She rolled her eyes.

"So, Dray-chan is from a pure blood family?"

"Dray-chan?"

"Draco... Dray-chan."

"Oh... you mean, Malfoy..." She sounded disgusted.

Mismatched green eyes slit at her tone of voice. "What is your problem, are you too stuck up and self-righteous to see that he is just a kid that was shoved into a hellish situation?" Perhaps sending her to see Muraki-sensei wouldn't be such a bad idea...

"You don't know him... He's obviously putting on a good show for your benefit. He was the most prejudiced and nasty Slytherin in the whole school. He spent years tormenting one of my best friends." She thought of the times Malfoy had made Harry's life miserable... and her own life too.

"With thirty-plus empaths and telepaths doing research directly above Watari's lab... I don't think so. The Draco you knew is dead and buried... he's starting out new here, and it doesn't help at all when fucking magic users come along and attack him!" Nanjiro crossed his arms... it was just too tempting to say 'well... he was MURDERED by his own dad... so give him a break.'

"Attack him? I didn't touch him. I don't want to touch him or ever see him again. If he's staying here that's great. I hope what you say is true and he doesn't turn on you."

The shinigami sniffed, "did I say YOU attacked him?"

"What other 'magic-user' is around?"

"Draco's father." The reply was as flat as soda that had been left out for a week.

The girl gasped and looked around. "He's here! You have to believe me, he's extremely dangerous. I don't know why he'd be here but you have to be on your guard."

"Well, he was here yesterday when he paralyzed Dray-chan and torched his scarf and snake patch." Nanjiro shifted his weight to his left foot and continued in a humorless voice. "All while insulting him... nice dad, reminds me a little of mine."

"He burned the scarf and patch? But... he was a Slytherin himself." She seemed genuinely shocked at the notion of insulting one's house or former house in that way.

"Draco saw his father murder his mother... he might have completed destroying Dray here, if Watari hadn't arrived and beamed him in the head with the oar."

"Narcissa is dead? The rumors were true then."

"Hai, she's dead."

"So how did Malfoy end up here?"

"A subdivision of your magic department more secret than that phoenix order managed to pick up Draco..."

"Oh... Well... hopefully things will work out."

"It will... as long as Draco stays around Watari." Nanjiro smirked. "Malfoy shows up and tries anything against them... well, let's just say that he'll never know what hit him."

"Good. I have to get going. Thank Watari again for the scrolls, I'm almost done if he wants to set up a meeting to return them."

"I can take them for him," Nanjiro offered, it would be kind of hard for Watari to explain why he was suddenly several years older overnight.

"Oh... okay, I'll go get them."

---

Reading over some documents, Watari brushed a few sakura petals away as they floated down. Lazily he reached down and ran his fingers through Draco's hair before looking down at the head resting in his lap. He smiled when he saw silver eyes peeking up at him. "waking up?"

"Would you believe me if I said no?"

"not really... because you are talking to me." Watari winked.

"There is that." He pushed himself up, rotating his head to work out the kinks in his neck.

Blushing slightly, the scientist looked up into the trees. "I was thinking..."

"Oh?" Draco stretched his back.

"Maybe you should move in with me for the time being..."

The Reaper turned to look at Watari. "Move in with you?"

"only if you want to."

Draco picked up a handful of sakura petals, watching as they fell to the ground. "i haven't been sleeping good... i don't want to keep you up."

"Don't forget that the mighty Kuma is at my place... guaranteed to chase away nightmares." Watari chuckled.

The younger blond blushed. "I... I would feel safer... I think... If you don't mind that is."

The files were put down... they didn't need to be finished until the next day, right? Laying down, the shinigami put his head on Draco's lap. "we can pick your things up on the way back today..."

The boy started to play with the long blond tendrils. "You'll let me know if I become a nuisance, right?"

"hei hei..." he said with a contented sigh as he closed his eyes.

A slight smile crossed Draco's face as he continued to play with the long hair. Some five minutes later a voice spoke up in the Reaper's mind and sounded quite amused. /You put him to sleep.../ Draco only barely restrained himself from jumping, and surely waking the other blond. Silver eyes darted around, seeking out the speaker. From behind he heard a twig snap.

This time his reaction was involuntary. The scientist's head was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Draco scrambled to get his back to a tree and face whoever was trying to sneak up on him.

"Itai!" Rubbing his head, Watari sat up just as Nanjiro hit the ground laughing and apologizing.

The Reaper's heart was pounding in his chest, his face almost devoid of color. He sagged to the ground, wrapping his arms around his shaking knees. Watari scrambled to his knees and immediately wrapped his arms around the teen. Draco concentrated on controlling his breathing. "i'm... i'm sorry..."

"No... it's the joker rolling on the ground that should be sorry..."

"it's not his fault... i should have known HE couldn't get here..."

The shinigami gently tilted Draco's chin so that the teen was looking up at him. "I also asked Nanjiro to meet us... so you could get a pet."

"A pet?"

Nanjiro managed to stop laughing and sat up, still giggling. "a hei-hei."

"But why a pet? I've never had one, even the owl I had at Hogwarts wasn't really a pet." From Nanjiro's bag a small kittenish creature with fluffy wings is pulled out. With a yawn the small animal curled up. Draco looked at it, fascinated. "What is it?"

"That is a Hei-hei... while here in meifu and in gensoukai it will look like that, but in chijou it'll look like a normal kitten when it isn't in a defensive mode." Watari explained as Nanjiro handed the 'kitten' over to the Reaper. The boy cradled the creature. Hesitantly he stroked the soft fur.

"Before it will be completely loyal to you," Nanjiro started, "you have to ask it for a challenge... and pass the test."

"Ask it? Do they speak?"

"This one doesn't in this form... "

"Oh."


	11. The new pet, or the end

Author's notes:

For all intents and purposes, god's of death from Britain are technically called 'Reapers' instead of 'Shinigami' (makes sense, different culture... different language, hence different name).

Disclaimer: Yanagi-sen and I are only borrowing the characters from Yami no Matsuei and Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books to torment for a while... Don't look for Harry to be appearing any time soon in this fanfiction. We claim no ownership over any character that does not belong to us... Itami Korin and Ishida Nanjiro are mine... those I claim and abuse at will.

Special thanks to Kara Angitia who is currently helping Draco speak more British style English.

Enter the Reaper.  
Chapter ten.

Sniffing Draco's finger, the hei-hei then nuzzled it. "It won't bite me, will it? Does it have a gender?"

Nanjiro shook his head, "if he was going to bite, he would have bitten you already."

Draco started to pet the creature. "Does he have a name?" He smiled unconsciously.

"These little guys don't normally take names for themselves... which I guess means that you get to name him." The hei-hei swished its tail twice as the shinigami answered.

"I'll have to think about it. You said it doesn't talk in this form... what other form does he have?" Carefully, Nanjiro put the 'kitten' on the ground and gave it a little shove to which it looked back with a halfway hurt expression on it's face as though wondering why it wasn't being held anymore. "Awe..." Draco frowned at the gatekeeper.

"Come on... show him that you can be a respectable guardian and not just a cute ball of fur. Shikigami's are supposed to be protectors... and Puss'n Boots, you are not."

'mew?'

"It's going to change? Right here... is that okay?" The small blond looked to Watari.

Watari nodded, "You would be surprised at a few of the shikigami that have, ahem, exercised their abilities here in Meifu."

"Oh..." He turned back to the creature with an inquisitive expression. Licking one paw, the shikigami cleaned behind one ear. "He's so cute."

"Cute is one thing... the reason shinigami take shikigami is that in case they get into a situation where they need assistance... they have something that could help them. I don't think that a 'cute' shiki would be of much help..." Watari said while watching the adorable display.

"Some of the 'cuter' magical animals have a tendency to hide nasty tricks though."

The older blonde laughed, "true..."

Draco looked at the creature. "So is it going to do something or just sit there looking cute?"

The shikigami looked over at Nanjiro and meowed expectantly. It took the shinigami a moment to react... "You have to be kidding me!"

"What? What did he say?"

"He won't change until you've completed his challenge."

"Challenge... what kind of challenge?" Sauntering over, the kitten crawled up into Draco's lap and meowed at length again at the blue haired shinigami.

"He said that you are to stay in Gensoukai, in a location of his choosing... without aid from shikigami, shinigami, human or magic. Your only provisions will be what you can carry with you."

"Gensoukai? I think I've heard of it... but I'm not sure." Draco looked more than a little worried.

Watari was about to explain what Gensoukai was when Nanjiro interrupted him, "Either he accepts the challenge, or he doesn't."

"Of course I accept." Draco said before really thinking about it or letting anyone else say anything.

---

Two hours later, standing alone in the middle of the woods... Draco was really wondering whether this had been such a good idea. He looked around and swallowed nervously. It didn't look too bad... really it didn't. Not with the sun shining down through the trees. The very tall trees, with lots of undergrowth... that could hide any number of things. He swallowed again and shivered in spite of the warm clothing Watari had insisted he wear.

Did he really need that kitten, or hei hei thing? He had never backed down from a challenge before. But he hadn't been out in a place that made the Forbidden Forest look like a small thicket before either. In the bag, he had a change of clothes, some food and a first aid kit. There was also a matchbook that the older blonde had made sure that he knew how to use for that evening. He could hear things... living things moving around in the bushes and above him in the trees. Wood... yes, he needed to find some wood... a fire, fire was a must.

He could feel something watching him. Chewing on his lip nervously, he started to pick up fallen sticks and branches.

---

It was only after he had dispatched with the demon that had been summoned that Watari saw that man again... the man that had attacked Draco. Lucius. What was he doing in Kyoto? For a moment, he was glad that the boy was in Gensoukai, that way no harm would come to his partner. The man was sitting at a very pricey cafe, sipping coffee and looking at some papers. His clothing, while a little odd, weren't too out of place. For the most part, the foreigner was ignored by the crowds.

It was his block, Watari decided, and it was also his partner that bastard had attacked. Entering the cafe, he let the waitress know that he was going to join an acquaintance of his... Malfoy-san. Settling into the seat across from the wizard, the blonde smiled, " This is public place. Fight now is bery bad, " he said in his limited English.

One eyebrow rose, the expression was remarkably like Draco's. "Indeed. You have a point." He said in perfect Japanese, his proficiency no doubt the result of a spell.

The shinigami was visibly relieved that he didn't have to rely on his own English skills. "I do not care why you are in Japan... or even what brought you to Kyoto specifically, though it is a nice place to visit... but I must respectfully request that you stay away from Draco-kun." On the scientist's shoulder 003 fluttered her wings.

"Am I to understand that you are telling me I cannot see my own dear son?"

"Hei," Watari nearly beamed, as though this were the most natural conversation to have. "Considering how he was forcefully removed from your custody, I do not see where there would be a problem."

"He was kidnapped from my custody you mean. I've been searching for him." The man's voice and demeanor were not that of a concerned parent. He was remarkably cool.

The small owl hooted as the blonde took off his glasses to clean them. "Avada Kedavra..."

Surprise momentarily flickered across the man's face. "Yes, I've heard of that. What about it?"

"We both know that is the spell you used on your son." Replacing the glasses, the shinigami smiled disarmingly at Lucius.

"And your point is?" He neither confirmed nor denied the fact.

"You are very much aware of the fact that your son is no longer part of the living, and that he was not kidnapped from your custody." Pulling a lock of hair away from the small owl, the shinigami chuckled. "Cause more trouble for him, and it will be more than just an oar that you will need to concern yourself with."

"Very well... you've delivered your threat. I have business to attend to."

Watari stood up from his seat, "when you are done, please remove yourself as quickly as possible from the fifth block."

"Not that you can really dictate what I do, since I'm not deceased, but my business is almost completed here."

Leaving the cafe, Watari slipped into spirit form. Hovering outside on his oar (Draco was right, this form of flight is fun!), he waited for the wizard to emerge... he didn't want any questions in that warlock's mind as to who or WHAT he was. It was nearly twenty minutes later that the blond wizard emerged from the cafe. He looked up at the 'invisible' shinigami. He smirked and half nodded. A cab pulled up to the curb and he entered the vehicle.

---

Something obviously large could be seen through the foliage not that far from where the Reaper sat huddled near his rapidly dwindling fire. He could hear a rumbling growl as it looked in at him and moved on. Draco pulled the jacket tighter around him. He couldn't tell if his shivering was from being cold or being scared. He didn't like being out here at all. He didn't like being alone. He didn't like the dark. He shivered again.

High above a bird cawed as it flew past.

He flinched. This place was creepy. He shifted a little closer to the dying fire. He hugged his knees to his chest. In the distance, he thought that he saw Fawkes... except that the stupid thing didn't look half dead. Stupid phoenixes. He lay his head on his knees. Draco wasn't sure how long he could do this. Not sleeping wasn't really a problem. Not for a couple nights at least. He hadn't really been able to sleep since Lucius... He shuddered.

---

A woman wearing an elaborate kimono greeted Lucius at the entrance.

"I have an appointment with Muraki-sensei." Bowing gracefully, she informed him that the good doctor still hadn't arrived... but if he wished, he could wait in the gardens with the young master. "Very well." He accepted the slippers offered then followed the girl. From the back, he almost mistook the person in the garden to be another one of the kimono clad girls that were crawling all over the so-called restaurant. "Good afternoon. I'm waiting for Muraki-sensei."

Slowly, the figure turned and looked at him, Long dark hair was flipped over one shoulder and a katana was abruptly sheathed. The half open yukata exposed the lean and meticulously kept body beneath the cloth. "You must be Malfoy-sensei..." the man stated as dark smoldering eyes took in and evaluated the wizard.

"I am." His cold eyes met the man's gaze.

"Kazutaka will return shortly." The sword is handed over to one of the girls and the long haired man motioned to Lucius to follow him as he went into a nearby room. Flopping gracelessly down into a cushion, another girl drapped a second robe loosely around his shoulders before arranging his hair and giving him a pipe. "I am Oriya."

The wizard sat on another cushion. "Lucius Malfoy."

"You have been visited by death." Inhaling from the pipe, Oriya leaned back slightly.

"What do you mean?"

The brothel-owner smiled slowly, "A shinigami... a god of death."

"Ah yes. I spoke with one earlier today. How could you tell?"

"I sense things of that nature on occasion."

"Interesting."

"Which one was it?"

"Blond with long hair and glasses. Had a pygmy owl with him."

Oriya nodded, "Watari Yutaka."

"He was very polite if a little demanding."

The brunette shrugged, "considering my sources, that is not surprising... if he considered you a threat."

"Hmmm. It was an interesting experience."

A girl came scurrying in and whispered something into Oriya's ear. Just as quickly as she came, she left. "Kazutaka has arrived... and will be with us shortly. It seems that he was involved in some hostile negotiations that unfortunately turned more than a little messy.

One eyebrow arched, but Malfoy didn't comment.

"I'm curious... the british shinigami... what relation is he to you?" Oriya asked as he lazily waved away some smoke.

"You've seen Draco?"

"I have."

"He is a relation." Was all Lucius was going to admit.

"Excuse my old friend's curiosity... in his business, it is always of the utmost importance to be well informed," Standing in the doorway wearing a white suit, Muraki smiled.

"Muraki-sensei I presume."

"Hai... Malfoy-sensei... and I see that you have met Mibu Oriya"

"Yes, I have."

"I apologize for my lateness... There was a young lady in Tokyo that was interested in studying the style of magic that I engaged in." Muraki chuckled, "She did not appreciate my pets once I summoned them for her."

"Oh? Do you often get people wanting to study magic?"

"For the most part, no." Sitting, he informed Oriya that some tea would be nice and watched as the swordsman got up to go retrieve the indicated drink.

"Well, I for one am quite intrigued. There is a distinct lack of information available on Japanese magic in England."

"That is because magic here is not dealt with in the same manner as your own."

"I've gathered as much. I'm hoping that maybe that will provide me with the solution to my dilemma."

Muraki smiled evilly, "Your dilemma is a little complicated, but it can be dealt with... "

"Excellent. I would prefer to wait for a little while. He is still a little weak. And I have things I must attend to back home."

The doctor nodded, "And you will be able to handle my particular problem... correct?"

"I believe it can be arranged."

---

He felt warm and safe... Waking, Draco could feel himself snuggled up against something much larger than himself. Draco snuggled a little closer. If it hadn't eaten him yet, it probably wasn't going to. He cracked one eye to check if it was light out yet. The sky was being effectively blocked by a large feathered wing folded over him. "huh?" He blinked a few times. No... it was definitely a wing... Suddenly he recalled the time he had encountered Buckbeak... and that creature's reaction to him! He froze. "oh please don't eat me..." The creature turned to him. Its face reminded him of a large cat... "Um... nice kitty..."

Yawning, it exposed all of its sharp looking teeth.

"oh... no... not again... first a beak and now teeth..."

"what are you talking about?" The beast's mouth remained shut, but Draco was certain that the voice came from that thing.

"Did you... talk?"

"Yes I did."

"ooookay... I'm not dreaming, right?"

"The fire went out... start it up again and make some food."

"There's no more wood..."

"Then get some more... or do you want to freeze tonight with out a fire for light or warmth?" Feline eyes gazed on the shinigami with amusement.

He shook his head and scrambled to get up. One did NOT argue with something much larger than oneself with big teeth. Following with an ease that the Reaper envied, the large cat creature followed him as he went to get wood. With the security that a large creature with big teeth can provide, Draco foraged farther from the clearing than he had the previous evening. He gathered several armloads of wood, carrying them back and stacking them near his firepit.

"Now what about food?" The creature almost snickered.

"I have some things in my bag." He started to look through it.

"How long are you going to be out here?"

He paused. "I don't know."

"Do you want to use everything up from that little bag of yours so fast when you don't know?"

"Well... I guess I don't really have to eat."

Getting up, Draco's odd companion twitched it's tail. "Follow me." The blond complied, not sure what the creature wanted to show him. Moving at a leisurely pace, they eventually came upon a stream where he sat down on a large rock and began to sun himself. "Have fun figuring out how to catch the fish in there..."

"You're kidding me, right?" Draco looked uncertain.

"I'd catch them for you... but that would just violate your challenge, right?" Rolling onto his back, the large cat purred.

"Yes... but, I wouldn't even know what to do with one if I could catch it." He looked around at the foliage and water plants. "Are any of those things edible?"

An eye cracks open and peeks over at the plants the teen was looking at, "the red berries are okay... but not the green ones."

He picked a couple of the red berries and tried them. It was bitter and hard to chew... but it didn't kill him. He ate some more, looking around. He thought he recognized some other plants. They looked similar to ones he'd had to harvest for herbology and potions. If he remembered correctly, those should be safe to eat as well... He gathered some of the leaves and roots too. He could roast the roots.

Reluctantly the large cat followed him back...

---

Watari tried not to glare at the girl still unconscious on the bed in his medi-center. He had warned the little magic user to stay away from Muraki. What in his speech had given her the notion that the 'good' doctor was a reasonable person to ask to display his talent? She was lucky to have survived. The situation hadn't been looking too promising when she had been brought in. Which was good since calling Korin back just to transport one person over to England wasn't a very productive way of doing things. The question was up for debate on what Longbottom-sama's feelings would be should she have died... he had an inkling that witches and wizards were preferred for becoming Reapers.

Wakaba stuck her head in the doorway. "How is she?"

"She's alive... and should be waking soon to tell the truth." 003 climbed down the blonde's sleeve and plopped down on the bed.

"Have you heard anything about Dray-chan?"

"Nanjiro said that his new shiki went to make sure he would pass the challenge." Watari chuckled.

"I hope so... I'm not so sure he could do this on his own."

"On his own, he might have not been able to complete this... but the shiki wanted a shinigami." Picking up the owl, the scientist put 003 on her perch, "But I am relieved that Dray-chan is safe in Gensoukai for the time being."

The girl frowned. "Trouble?"

"I saw his father in Kyoto today."

"His father? What's wrong with him?"

The blonde shook his head, and didn't notice the girl starting to wake on the bed near him, "Lucius killed his wife and Draco with a curse called Avadra Kedavra."

"That's aweful. No wonder Dray-chan was having such a difficult time adjusting."

"The British Department of Death didn't make it any easier for him... I managed to translate part of his file. The boy was never trained, and was never equipped with a new wand... the one he has was tuned to him in life, in death it limits his magic." Shaking his head sadly, the shinigami looked over at Wakaba.

"No training and no tools and they just shipped him off to us? Why didn't they help him?"

"I wish I had an answer for that question. Tatsumi and I have already sent reports to the required agencies... " Long blonde hair is pulled out of it's ponytail and retied in the orange ribbon. "Britain attempted to have Dray-chan taken back in exchange for a... Buraku Sirius-san."

"Why did they want him back now?"

Before letting Wakaba know that Tatsumi was forcing the British Department to pay Draco's training, he glanced down at Hermione, "how long have you been awake?"

"Did Lucius really kill Malfoy?"

"Hei, he did."

"But... Malfoy's here."

Watari nodded, "that he is... and why did you ignore my warning about Muraki?"

"I didn't know it was him. Someone said I should talk with a doctor they heard of..."

"A doctor in Tokyo named Muraki that does magic... sounds like the person I warned you about..."

"I made a mistake..."

"Fine, just make sure that you don't make a mistake like that again... next time you might not survive it." Watari patted her on the head, "Please remain in the medi-center, you still aren't completely healed yet."

"But you didn't tell me about Malfoy..."

"Hei, Draco is dead."

"But..."

"But what?"

"But if he's dead... then how?"

"Because he became what in your native Britain is called, a Reaper, a god of death..."

"A Reaper?" The girl's fingers twitched and she looked around for paper and pen.

Hazel eyes narrowed, "You just found out that a classmate was murdered by his father and your main concern is for your research paper?"

She frowned. "I've made no secret of the fact that Malfoy is not liked. Am I sorry... yes, but he was never a friend."

Before the blonde was given a chance to answer, a girl with sharp features appeared in the doorway behind Wakaba. "Watari Yutaka, you were supposed to come see me last week..."

"Kira, not now..."

Wakaba headed for the door. "Kira-chan... it isn't a good time..."

"Okay, so when he sprouts claws, fangs and wings let me know..." the newcomer commented as she turned to leave.

"What? What are you talking about?" Wakaba asked.

"He needs his seals reset," Kira responded to Wakaba's question. "You can see that his reactions are already being affected by the demon within."

Wakaba looked at Watari expectantly. "You need to go take care of that. I'll watch our guest."

---

The next evening Hermione was less than pleased when she found out that Watari had altered her flight reservations. True, he had moved her up to first class the entire trip back, but he was sending her back to England... immediately. She tried pleading with whoever was in range, but found herself ignored. In addition no one would explain anything more about Malfoy. What was more irritating was the fact that the blonde had also managed to get her Visa altered... so that even if she tried to stay in Japan, she would be deported anyways.

Her bags were brought to her and that girl, Wakaba told her that someone would be coming to take her to the airport. It was now that she realized where she had seen that girl's face... in the shrine. The woman caring for the place had commented to her about the daughter she had lost several years ago to a horrible tragedy. "You're the one... at the shrine..."

Wakaba just smiled and left with out a word. Moments later, Hermione found herself deposited at the airport by a scary looking man with odd markings on his face and a gruff demeanor. Realizing that she wasn't going to get anywhere complaining to this man... She went into the airport and prepared to leave Japan and all the mysteries she couldn't explain.

---

Going through Muraki's files, Lucius found it odd that no where was it noted that the shinigami utilized any manner of object to aid them in their flight. In fact, they implied that the shinigami didn't resort to brooms, or an oar as was the case of the blonde he encountered. So why was the blond using an oar like a wizard would use a broom? Could it be that he couldn't fly without it? But all the records indicated that shinigami should be able to fly unassisted.

But why would Draco, weak as he is, stoop to being accompanied by a shinigami that cannot even manage flight under his own power? His son had been pathetic before... but this? He could only hope that time would strengthen the boy's powers. Then he could put the next part of his plan into action.

---

Carrying the bags into the house, Watari smiled at Draco and the new shikigami. "Welcome home Dray-chan..."


End file.
